The new protocols put in place by the NFL and NFLPA last week are being applauded by and large among teams, but the specter of COVID continues to grow with an anticipation that rosters will be impacted by it until the season ends.
Conversations with a half dozen general managers or top personnel executives revealed similar conclusions about the first week of non-mandatory tests for vaccinated, asymptomatic players – there are still a large number of players requesting to be tested on any given day, and many of them continue to test positive. There have been more than 300 players placed on the Reserve/COVID list the last two weeks after testing positive, and while teams are no longer testing all vaccinated players on Monday, between the random testing instituted as part of the new protocols, and players asking for tests (any player can request a test at any time), the Omicron variant continues to move through NFL teams, and in many casas, particular position groups within individual teams.
"We are seeing more tests conducted than we thought," said one high-ranking team executive. "We are still testing a lot of guys and seeing more positives than we'd hoped for. It's not going away. We are seeing players with mild symptoms getting tested, and they're popping. That's happening around the league."
One GM said: "It's the biggest burden we have right now, trying to keep a roster together and fight through this. This has been the case here, and I've talked to a lot of other teams about it, too, and the testing load is still high. The new rules haven't minimized the number of tests the way a lot of us thought it might. Every team is still dealing with this to some degree. In our place, some guys want to be tested everyday just because they want to know, or they have a two-year old at home. Some guys have a slight head cold and might not say anything to anybody and they don't get tested and they are fine. But it's a major stress every morning. You still don't really know who you are going to be able to practice with and play with any given day."
Another GM said: "Give credit to the league and the PA. This isn't just a cover up. The players are being vigilant about it and self reporting, and people are getting tested. The league is staying on the teams and letting them know they can't be in a position where they are found to be hiding something, or trying to cheat the system, because there will be consequences."
The NFL contends that no games are in jeopardy of being moved this weekend, though, in this pandemic, things can always change quickly with an outbreak quickly spreading within any locker room. Several teams still have more than 10 players on the Reserve/COVID list and others are at 20 or more. The vast majority of the positive tests remain among vaccinated players with very limited symptoms, according to the league.
