As of tomorrow, every team in the NFL will have begun admitting players into its facilities in order to open ‘training camp’—even if the first several days of training camp will not involve the players being in the building at all.
The first day of training camp will involve players taking a test for Covid-19, and will be followed by three days of self-quarantining measures before they take a second Covid-19 test. If they pass both of those tests, then they may be permitted to enter the facility, even if it would still be a while before anything significant or on the field takes place.
It’s because of this that the NFLPA still has some time as it concerns their review of each team’s IDER, or Infectious Disease Emergency Response plan. While every team has already submitted its plans and has had them approved by NFL chief medical advisor Dr. Allen Sills, the players union has to approve them separately, and is taking its time ensuring that it is being thorough.
As of this writing, the union still has 20 teams’ plans listed as pending, but importantly, none have been rejected. All 12 whose reviews have been completed have been approved, including, among the recent wave of approvals, that of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 11 other teams who have had their plans approved by the NFLPA are the Baltimore Ravens, the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Lions, the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Miami Dolphins, and the New York Giants.
A couple notes on this list: it’s interesting to note that it’s not necessarily region-bound, nor does it seem to show a particular bias with respect to regional circumstance. For example, Houston and Miami are area of extreme activity for Covid-19, but they have already had their plans approved.
The list of approved plans had not been updated since Sunday. With training camps ‘opening’ tomorrow, I would imagine that we will see another wave of approvals by then, but, again, with no significant football activity on the immediate horizon, it’s not crucial that this be in place in time for the start of whatever this training camp is going to look like.
It would be interesting to have an opportunity to take a look at one of these plans and get a sense of what they entail. I wouldn’t be surprised if, in time, one of these IDERs surfaces to the public.
