
As the NFL lurches toward the start of training camp, probably later this month, very few specifics are known regarding exactly how the league plans to pull off a season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
For all the talk that the NFL had the most time of all leagues to figure out a plan given that it had just entered its offseason when the full weight of COVID-19 reached the U.S. in March, here we are more than four months later and with the clock ticking a lot faster.
Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt laid out the issues that still have yet to be addressed Thursday on Twitter, framing them as "a few things I've learned being on four NFLPA calls in the last two weeks with hundreds of other players. Keep in mind our rookies are scheduled to report in 48 hours."
Watt wrote that players want to play — he began and ended his list with that — and that they want to be safe. But he also said huge questions remain about what camp will look like, how many preseason games there are going to be, what the impact of a positive test would be on numerous levels or even how often players are going to be tested.
The last point is a big one in a sport where social distancing is wholly unnatural as hard-breathing players line up inches away from each other several dozen times a game. The players' union said Thursday that 72 NFL players have already tested positive for COVID-19 in the lead-up to camps starting.
ESPN reported a couple weeks ago that players want daily testing for themselves and team personnel during camp, while the proposal at the time was for every-other-day testing. Per Watt's tweet, that still hasn't been resolved.
Why? Well, there are certainly optics and logistics at play given the volume of testing required. There is a concern among some that the recent spike in cases across the U.S. is already straining both the capacity and timeliness of test results. Add in all the testing required from all the sports leagues resuming, and it adds to that burden.
But perhaps the bigger issue is money. If the NFL decided to do the maximum amount of testing across its players, coaches and other team personnel, it would be quite expensive.