News on Monday that players from the Cowboys, including running back Ezekiel Elliott, and Texans have tested positive for COVID-19 brought another reminder of the challenges that teams will face as the NFL moves forward with the 2020 season.
One of the questions that many are waiting to have answered is how often players will be tested once they report for training camp this summer. NFL Players Association medical director Thom Mayer offered an idea about that answer during a call with players and agents on Monday.
Mayer said, via multiple reports, that players should expect to be tested about three times a week and, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, isolating those who test positive. He also said that he was 90 percent certain that saliva tests will be readily available for that process when teams get to camp in July. Positive tests are expected and Mayer offered a reminder that everyone is going to have to figure out a way to work around that inevitability.
“We can’t figure out how to fit the virus into football, we have to figure out how we’re going to fit football into the virus,” Mayer said, via Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com. “This is a bad-ass virus.”
A full set of protocols is expected in the coming weeks with the league looking for camps and the regular season to start on schedule.