NFL medical officer casts frest doubts over league's start date amid coronavirus outbreak

The NFL is reportedly planning to start the 2020 NFL season as scheduled despite the rapid outbreak of coronavirus in the United States. On Thursday, NFL chief medical officer, Dr Allen Sills addressed the league's plans to avoid delaying the start of the upcoming season while also ensuring player safety. According to Sillis, without widespread COVID-19 testing, predicting the NFL start date will be difficult.

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During a telephonic interview, Sills told NFL.com, "We hope and pray for the best and prepare for the worst, realising that is one potential outcome that we will be back fully in business playing games as normal in front of fans on schedule.

"But it's certainly not the only outcome. And I think what was implied there was to say we are not at a point where we are saying that is absolutely not going to happen so we should continue our planning and preparations as if we're going to be able to do that", added Sills.

Dr Allen Sills further stated that there is every possibility that the NFL start date will remain the same as the officials are continuously evaluating the situation and following the recommendations from public health officials and the other authorities. 

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COVID-19 testing in NFL: Sills casts doubt over playing in front of fans

Earlier this week, NFL's general counsel, Jeff Pash had stated that the league remains determined to play a full 16-game regular season in front of the fans starting September 2020. However, Sillis thinks reopening a team sport amidst the pandemic situation could prove to be a mistake. "As long as we're still in a place where when single individual tests positive for the virus that you have to quarantine every single person who was in contact with them in any shape, form or fashion, then I don't think you can begin to think about reopening a team sport," Sills said.

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According to the league's medical head, the NFL will be doing the same business with their season as the other professional leagues are doing in the country. While he failed to provide any timeline over key decisions, Sills noted that they are currently discussing several models to prepare themselves for the different scenarios. 

He further reiterated the importance of an offseason for the players as he reckoned the players will need time to acclimatise to the situation and work on their fitness before heading to the football field.

NFL players with coronavirus

The US remains the worst affected nation in the world with coronavirus. The country has over 220,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus with the death toll already crossing 6000. New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton announced last month that he tested positive for coronavirus. 

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