On Football: Training camps' look defines strange times

Don't expect any footballs — or players — on fields at NFL training camps anytime too soon.

blocking sleds. pass-rush drills. whistles.

As teams adhere to medical protocols that wisely and necessarily have been ordered by league and players' union, any sort of football action might be delayed until mid-August.

Hopefully, coaches are in a rush to get blocking and route running, passing and rushing and kicking going in earnest even after coronavirus pandemic shut down since March anything but remote practices and workouts.

Strange times indeed .

“se first two weeks we need to gently ramp m up and get m ready to play. Everyone is coming from different areas and with different restrictions,” Chargers general manr Tom Telesco said. “We’re going to have to do different things. Without preseason games or combined team practices we will have to change up our schedule. Have to put m in more competitive situations and do best we can.”

Doing best y can in 2020 should mean keeping everyone safe and healthy, t chasing wins. That can come later if NFL's plan fares better than has Major League Baseball's so far.

And re's question that football organizations are paying close attention to MLB's situation .

"We understand that virus is real," Eagles coach Doug Pederson says, "and we do everything we can in our powers to stay safe, protecting ourselves when we’re in building, protecting our players, and it’s unfortunate what has happened. But we do have a lengthy set of protocols that we have to abide by, and this is our new rmal right w, working in se conditions ...

“It’s something that we are going to embrace. We are going to make it a positive.”

How? What are appropriate dynamics for training camp in a sport that requires frequent contact, little to social distancing, even huddles? A sport featuring trenches, gang tackling and, at very least, two men touching football on every play?

Dr. Scott Braunstein, medical director of Sollis Health-LA and a former sideline physician for Rams, has some suggestions.

While Braunstein finds league's protocols reasonable and well developed, he is concerned about how NFL is dealing with players who have had kwn close exposure to someone with a positive COVID-19 test or someone with symptoms suggestive of coronavirus.

“ issue is that what will occur is, initially after exposure those nasal swabs are extremely insensitive to picking up viral loads,” Braunstein says. " chance you will show up as a positive are small and chances of a false negative are almost 100%. It takes seven days before those tests are truly accurate. Even on fourth day, re's an up to 67% false negative rate.

“So you will get players back in camp who are positive and are infectious.”

Braunstein is a strong proponent of point-of-care testing, something Screen Actors Guild is using.

“se are tests that can come back within 30 minutes pretty accurately before you get on a plane or before you get on a bus,” he explains. “Results are almost lab quality, so maybe a team could n isolate players who test positive away from rest of team.”

He also wonders about travel for teams. NFL, like MLB, opted t to seek a bubble environment like NHL, NBA, WNBA and MLS went for.

“Travel is definitely ar issue and this is where NBA and NHL really got it right, but it may t be feasible to do that in football,” Braunstein says. “Even traveling as a team on a private jet, you are still breathing recirculated air and flying across country.”

Ar logical step, Braunstein says, is facial coverings for NFL players. A face shield has been developed that players could use, but Braunstein urges more.

“If y want to provide for greatest level of safety, masks should be used for every play,” he says. "Some sort of facial material should be mandatory. ...

“I kw NFL is t ordering mandatory masks and players and union have given some negative feedback. I think discomfort of wearing a mask is thing compared to what I have seen in emergency rooms.”

Im credits: AP