Another roadblock cleared on path to NFL season as Dolphins rookies will soon report
The league and the players union have agreed on a COVID-19 testing protocol, clearing a major hurdle as the NFL hopes to to have all 32 teams open training camp in the coming days.
The biggest takeaway: All players will be tested daily for the first two weeks of training camp, and health professionals will only pull back on the frequency if the positivity rate drops below 5 percent.
Plus players will need to test positive twice over a 72-hour period before being allowed into team headquarters.
That’s according to NFL Network, who was among the first to report the salient details. The Miami Herald has since confirmed that report.
Until that sub-5 percent benchmark is reached, the NFL will administer — and pick up the tab for — more than 40,000 COVID-19 tests weekly, according to Dr. Jessica Flynn, a sports medicine doctor who does injury analysis for Boston Sports Journal.
The league insists that those tests — perhaps a million total during the course of the season — won’t come at the expense of local supplies, but instead be provided and handled by a national lab.
More details:
▪ A player who tests positive but is asymptomatic is barred from a team’s practice facility for at least 10 days and must twice test negative within five days of the initial test.
▪ A COVID-19-positive player with symptoms cannot return for at least 10 days after the symptoms first appear and at least 72 hours after he last experienced them.
▪ Players who come in contact with a person with symptoms must immediately isolate and undergo testing. If his test comes back negative, he’s allowed to return to the facility but will be subject to even more testing and observation
▪ Players who come in contact with a COVID-19-positive person must twice have tests come back negative before they’re allowed to return.
“Our union has been pushing for the strongest testing and tracing protocols to keep our players safe,” the NFLPA said Monday. “The testing protocols we agreed to are one critical factor that will help us return to work safely and gives us the best chance to play and finish the season.”
The negotiating breakthrough comes a day after dozens of prominent NFL players, including Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones, flooded social media with criticism of the league’s handling of the crisis.
“The NFL continues to ignore major health and safety concerns putting the 2020 season in jeopardy,” Jones wrote Sunday. America wants to watch football and we want to play. Make the necessary changes @nflcommish [Roger Goodell’s Twitter account] #WeWantToPlay.”
Ensuring (or at least promoting) the health and safety of players was the top concern for the NFLPA, and so Monday’s announcement was a step in the right direction. However, several issues remain, including the length of the acclimation period to start camp, the number of preseason games and — most importantly — how players will be affected by what’s expected to be a huge budget shortfall in 2020.
Still, agreement on testing should allow for players to report to camp on time. Dolphins rookies are scheduled to report Thursday, and the entire team should be in Davie by the end of the month. The first time Dolphins rookies who are COVID-negative can enter the team facility is next Monday.
▪ The Dolphins and first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene agreed on terms for his rookie contract Monday, leaving just offensive lineman Robert Hunt as the lone Dolphins draft pick without a deal in place. Igbinoghene’s contract is believed to be for four years and roughly $11.3 million with basically half of that coming in a signing bonus.
Miami Herald sportswriter Barry Jackson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 5:10 PM.
