Dolphins, Falcons mull holding joint practices, but coronavirus makes it a long shot
The Dolphins and Falcons have had preliminary conversations about practicing jointly ahead of their August preseason game in Georgia, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn told reporters Tuesday.
However, logic suggests the feasibility of such workouts in the age of coronavirus is dubious, at best.
Dr. Anthony Fauci laid out the criteria necessary for the NFL to play its season as scheduled in an interview with NBC Sports’ Peter King during the weekend.
The biggest concern? The virus spreading through locker rooms and on the field, when there’s no way to distance socially.
“You got a problem there,” Fauci told King, when asked about the possibility of four or more players in the same locker room testing positive. “You know why? Because it is likely that if four of them are positive and they’ve been hanging around together, that the other ones that are negative are really positive. So I mean, if you have one outlier [only one player testing positive], I think you might get away. But once you wind up having a situation where it looks like it’s spread within a team, you got a real problem. You gotta shut it down.”
For the NFL to go on as planned, players, coaches and staff would likely be needed to be tested at least twice a week during the season — which would total some 200,000 tests for the NFL alone. And that doesn’t account for joint practices, which will involve as many as 180 players, who might need to submit to coronavirus tests on a daily basis during these training camp sessions.
And an outbreak of the virus would potentially cripple not just one team, but two.
Quinn didn’t go into such detail with Atlanta reporters Tuesday when he told them that the Falcons had discussions with the Bills and Dolphins “way back in the offseason” about “doing some scrimmaging.” The Dolphins play in Atlanta the week of Aug. 13, and the practices would presumably be held at the Falcons’ Flowery Branch facility in the days leading up to the game.
Quinn added: “If those guidelines are in place that we’re able to, we will. And obviously, if they’re not, we won’t.”
Quinn also discussed the addition of defensive end Charles Harris, whom the Falcons acquired from the Dolphins for a seventh-round pick earlier this month.
“We want him as part of our rotation in the defensive line, specifically at defensive end,” Quinn said. “We want to get him in, get to know the guys, get to know the program and get the best version of him. We’re still learning him. What’s the best weight for him so he can really explode and be at his best? ... I’ve been very impressed with him at the start. Getting to know the guys, getting connected. He’s been a good addition for us.”
