Aaron Rodgers wonders if NFL COVID-19 protocols are actually 'based on science'
Rodgers is wondering if the rules are more about safety or optics

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has some questions about the NFL's approach to limiting the spread of coronavirus among NFL players and staff. In an interview with former Colts punter Pat McAfee, Rodgers noted some of the "double standards" that the league has employed when it comes to protocol.
"You can go down to practice and hit each other and be in close contact, but you have to have plexiglass in between you and the guy next to you in the locker room," Rodgers said. "You can dap up a guy after the game, but you can't eat at the same lunch table as a teammate?"
Rodgers made it clear that these questions are coming from a place of wondering whether the league is more concerned about optics than actual safety. He accurately pointed out how for four quarters every week, players are in close contact with one another against an opposing team, which isn't ideal for limiting the spread.
There's evidence to suggest which kind of COVID-19 approaches in professional sports do work -- the NBA and NHL's bubbles, for example, pretty much went off as perfectly as one could have expected -- and which ones don't (see: MLB). The NFL is trying the latter, without bubbles, and has been paying the price for it with frantic schedule changes due to positive tests and star players not being allowed to play.
Couple that with the weird theatrics employed, like the Broncos "sanitizing" their players before practice or the Falcons using drones to clean their stadium after games, and Rodgers's questions start to make more sense.
"Some of it is definitely for the optics of it. Some of it is probably based on science... but it's definitely changed the season for sure," he said.
You can watch the entire clip down below.
"I just think there's some double standards... You can dap up a guy after the game but you can't eat at the same lunch table as a teammate"@AaronRodgers12 on the COVID protocols #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/7RqyrUgSWQ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) November 10, 2020















