NFL, players agree to coronavirus testing plan

With training camps on target to open next week, NFL owners and the players association cleared a major hurdle Monday by agreeing to daily coronavirus testing at least through the first two weeks of camp.

It was one of two key concessions the NFL is making to appease players. The league also has offered to eliminate all exhibition games after previously cutting the preseason from four to two games.

In doing so, it opens a path to camps opening as scheduled for all teams July 28. Or, as a high-ranking league official said Monday when asked about camps starting on time: “(I) think that will happen.”

The frequency of testing had been an impediment to players signing off on the official opening of training camp, but even with the NFL’s concession on preseason games, other issues remain.

Owners and players still have to agree on how best to deal with the inevitable financial shortfall of the season being played either without fans at games or with a significantly reduced amount. Given how the 2021 salary cap will be predicated on revenue raised in the 2020 season, NFL players are wary of absorbing the entire blow in one season and would rather level off the impact over multiple seasons.

Nevertheless, significant progress was made Monday on the health aspect of a return to football. Per the agreement, players will be tested daily for the first two weeks and must have two negative tests to move from the reporting phase of camp to the next phase. In that phase, players will gain access to team facilities to undergo a normal physical and get fitted for equipment.

League and NFL Players Association officials will meet after the first two weeks of testing to assess the situation. Should the positive testing rate fall below 5 percent for players, testing will transition to every other day.

Should the positive test rate return above the 5 percent threshold, it will trigger the return of daily testing.

With the dynamics of COVID-19 in flux, NFL medical experts are bracing for inevitable adjustments.

“There’s no finish line with health and safety, and I think these protocols are very much living and breathing documents,” said Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s chief medical officer. “Which means they will change as we gain new knowledge about this virus, as we gain new knowledge about transmission, as we gain new knowledge about testing and there are new tests and new techniques that come online.”

Sills said the daily testing requirements and 5 percent threshold applies to all Tier One and Tier Two league employees. The tier distinctions were outlined in a league memo delivered last month, with Tier One consisting of all players and necessary personnel who must have direct access to players, and Tier Two defined as other essential personnel who may need to be in close proximity to players and other Tier One individuals and who may need to access restricted areas.

“These are complicated issues which involve a lot of factors,” Sills said. “But suffice it to say, we very much look at it from a medical and public health standpoint, and we want to make sure that first and foremost we’re creating the safest possible environment for our players, for our coaches and our staff.

“But that we’re also operating within the safest environment for each one of our clubs’ locations, which means ongoing and regular communication with the public health authorities in those areas.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore onTwitter.