First pads practice Aug. 16, more of what could be in unprecedented Seahawks training camp
How different is this training camp going to be?
There will not be thousands of fans splayed across the grass berm overlooking the field watching practices. There won’t be hundreds of kids and adults stacked and pushing and shrieking for Russell Wilson to come over to them for autographs at the end of practices. There will be none.
Heck, there likely won’t even be practices for a while.
The first time the Seahawks would be fully practicing, in pads, during their upcoming training camp like no other: Aug. 16.
That’s the upshot of the NFL’s latest offer to its players’ union. It calls for 18 days of testing for the COVID-19 virus and an unprecedented acclimation period, all before they actually do what training camps normally feature: full-pads practices to get ready for the season.
The NFL Players’ Association told its members on a call Tuesday its is still pushing for a longer acclimation period at the start of camps; the league’s joint committee of doctors, trainers and strength coaches has recommended 21 days.
The NFLPA told its members another aspect of this training camp will be new: roster sizes are expected to be set at 80 players to begin camp. In previous years it’s been 90 players, the size of Seattle’s offseason roster as of Tuesday. Cutting rosters to 80 is a tough deal for undrafted rookies who have already had all the league’s normal offseason practices to prove themselves canceled by the COVID-19 virus.
The league and the NFLPA as of Tuesday had yet to agree on ways to share the losses expected to be in the billions of dollars for playing the 2020 season with few or no fans in stadiums. That seems to be a near-certainty starting in September. Cases of the coronavirus continue to spike deep into the summer in many NFL states, including Florida, Texas, California and Arizona.
The league wants to slash the salary cap in 2021 to offset 2020 losses. The NFLPA wants to keep next year’s cap flat from this year’s $198.2 million then spread the impact on future caps over the next decade, from 2022-30.
While that remains an issue, what seems settled is the likely schedule for the first weeks of training camps across the league.
The Seahawks at their headquarters in Renton and teams across the league will have the bulk of their players report on July 28, next Tuesday.
Each player will have undergo a nasal, COVID-19 test upon arriving for camp on day one. He will not be permitted into the team facility but sent back home for three days after the first test. He will stay remote, getting virtual classes in playbook installation and other coaches’ instruction, until day four. That’s when the player will get a second test for COVID-19. He will be allowed inside the team facility for the first time since January only if and when he passes both tests.
The NFL management council sent this information in a memorandum to each team’s president, general manager, head physician, head trainer and counsel on Monday afternoon.
Dr. Allen Stills, the league’s chief medical officer, said in a conference call Monday the NFL will assess the daily testing of players, coaches and those in close, regular contact with the players for the first two weeks of training camps. If rates of positive cases drops below 5%, as the league expects it to by then, testing will go to every other day.
Each player who twice tests negative in the first four days of reporting to camp will then get a physical examination. Only after he passes that can he begin team strength and conditioning training. The first day a player reporting July 28 can begin strength and conditioning work is day five of camp, Aug. 1.
According to the NFL’s latest proposal there can be light, walk-through practices from day 5-12 of this new training camp. Kansas City coach Andy Reid mentioned upon his rookies arriving for testing Monday there is the possibility for walkthroughs on the field during this initial period for strength and conditioning. That phase runs through day 12 of camp.
The strength and conditioning period is normally already done by teams before players report to a normal training camp. But because of pandemic players did not have an offseason training program, nor organized team activities (OTAs) or minicamp practices on the field as they do every other April through June. Team facilities have been closed to players since March, when the coronavirus began shutting down the country.
The players will have day 13 of training camp off. Then non-padded practices, with helmets, can begin day 14. Those will run through 18. Non-padded practices usually happen over the first four days of a normal camp, to end July.
The union has wanted 21 days of acclimation before practicing in pads. The league offered players 18 days.
Day 19 this year is another negotiated day off.
On day 20, players would begin practicing in full pads. That for the Seahawks would be Sunday, Aug. 16. That’s 28 days before Seattle is scheduled to open its season, Sept. 13 at Atlanta.
The league had wanted to play two of the usual four preseason games, beginning the weekend of Aug. 20-23. The NFLPA wanted zero preseason games. Exhibitions that did not count had no place in its 45-day acclimation and training period it wanted the league to use, as recommended by the joint committee the league and union formed this spring.
The NFL agreed Monday night to zero preseason games.
Nothing, especially anything of a concession, comes for free in the NFL. That’s why the league is hammering out money issues with the union now: to set the players’ real-dollar cost for getting what they wanted in safety and acclimation protocols.
The NFLPA said as of Tuesday 59 players and 95 total personnel across the league had known, positive tests for COVID-19 at some point during the pandemic. It was unclear whether that number included any rookies who have already been tested at team facilities. Most if not all of those cases are likely ones known from the spring and summer, such as Denver Broncos’ All-Pro pass rusher Von Miller plus Los Angeles Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth and his entire family.
The league expects—and science says—there will be a considerable number of positive tests on each team upon players reporting from their homes across the country to camps over the next week. The league thinks those positives will subside within the first two weeks of camp.
According to nfl.com, the league has told teams if a player tests positive but has no symptoms he can return to the facility 10 days after the initial positive test. He can also come back if he receives two consecutive negative tests within five days of the initial positive test. If the player has a positive test and symptoms, he can return after at least 10 days have passed since the symptoms first appeared, and a minimum of 72 hours since his last symptoms.
No rookies signed
The NFL’s official transactions for Tuesday listed none for Seattle.
The Seahawks still have six of their eight rookie draft choices unsigned. The only ones to sign: sixth-round pick Freddie Swain, a wide receiver and kick returned from Florida, and recently injured Stanford tight end Colby Parkinson, a fourth-round choice.
Expect a flood of rookie draft-pick signings over the next few days. Those will happen as rookies report to camp and take physicals.
Seahawks rookies were to report Tuesday. As the NFL and NFLPA continued to sort out COVID-19 testing and protocols, a league source told The News Tribune rookies reporting had been delayed and was “to be determined.” They could report late this week.
Parkinson broke a bone on the outside of his foot while training on his own last month. He had surgery and is expected to be out for months. He’s likely to begin camp on an injured list, perhaps the physically-unable-to-perform list.
What a 2020 team facility looks like
Peter King of NBC Sports toured the Minnesota Vikings’ facility outside Minneapolis. He got a behind-the-scenes look at what players, coaches and staff will be doing each day during training camp.
King wrote about it for his weekly Football Morning in America column, and published this video:
Again, we are about to embark on a training camp and undertaking like none in NFL history.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 3:41 PM.
