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Mike Tomlin not “extremely confident” NFL can pull off full 2020 season

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The Steelers' defense kept Pittsburgh in the playoff hunt in 2019. With a healthy Ben Roethlisberger in 2020, the Steelers could be a major factor in the AFC.

The Steelers were one of only three NFL teams not to have a player opt out of the 2020 season. No matter, coach Mike Tomlin acknowledges the NFL faces a challenge to start the 2020 season on time . . . and finish the 2020 season on time.

COVID-19 isn’t going away quietly.

The NFL, like Major League Baseball, will not play its season in a bubble. MLB has had coronavirus outbreaks that have led to 21 total postponements in recent weeks and forced the league to mandate more stringent COVID-19 safety protocols.

A reporter asked Tomlin on Thursday whether, with the challenges baseball has faced, he is confident the NFL “will be able pull this off.”

I don’t know if I am extremely confident,” Tomlin said, via Mark Kaboly of TheAthletic.com. “I respect the challenges these circumstance has presented to other leagues, some of which we are witnessing. I think we are all proceeding with caution and working extremely hard not to become part of that. We have some people in leadership positions — Dr. [Allen] Sills — and others, medical professionals, who have led the charge for us globally in the NFL, and we are working out tails off to adhere to it and hoping that is enough coupled with personal decision-making that needs to be exhibited continually by our guys throughout the course of this.”