The National Football League (NFL) announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with its players\u2019 union that will see every player tested for coronavirus \u2026<\/b>
\nThe National Football League (NFL) announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with its players\u2019 union that will see every player tested for coronavirus daily during the first two weeks of training camp, ESPN reported. Following those two weeks, the frequency of testing will be gradually lowered as certain thresholds are met.
NFL training camps are getting way this week, with rookies from the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans having reported on Monday, and rookies from the remaining teams required to report on Tuesday, followed later by the veteran players.
However, the league and the union had been working out what safety protocols would be in place as the deadline to begin training camp loomed. Now, an agreement has been reached.
Specifically, during the first two weeks of camp, every player will be tested, every day. Following, if five percent or fewer players test positive, then the testing will take place every two days. If at any point during training camp the number of infected players rises above five percent, testing will move back to daily.
Dr. Allen Sills, the league\u2019s chief medical officer, noted that players haven\u2019t been confined to a \u201cbubble\u201d during the off-season, and so daily testing, at least at first, could keep a lid on a potential outbreak at training camp.
\u201cWe recognize that, as players and coaches and staff come in, they\u2019re going to be coming in from all over the country and in some cases the world. So we want to take a slow approach here,\u201d he said.
Meanwhile, the league and the players\u2019 union continue to try to hammer out other points of the league\u2019s coronavirus response plan, including the length of the preseason. For example, the league has already shortened the preseason to two games from four, while the players\u2019 union continues to angle for no preseason.
Sills noted that testing isn\u2019t going to be the be-all end-all of the league\u2019s coronavirus response.
\u201cWe won\u2019t be able to test our way to safety. The way we conduct ourselves away from the facility, all of those things are going to be really important as we move forward into the season,\u201d he said.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, some players have expressed concern about proceeding with the season. For example, last week Tampa Bay left tackle Donovan Smith,publicly expressed doubt about whether or not playing is worth it.
\u201cRisking my health as well as my family\u2019s heath does not seem like a risk worth taking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n