The NFL Cuts The Preseason In Half
Just last week, the NFL announced that they were cancelling the Hall Of Fame game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys. Now they have gone a step further by knocking off two weeks of the preseason. For 30 of the 32 teams in the league, that is cutting the preseason in half.
All games that were slated to be played in week one and in week four have been shaved off the schedule. That means that a total of 33 games have been cut from this year’s preseason due to the pandemic. The NFLPA Want the preseason cut even more and do not rule that out. Boy, we really need to get a vaccine and put this virus behind us.
The NFL will move the start of the preseason to probably late August. An announcement on that could come later this week. The reason to scrap a couple of weeks is to give the players a and coaches a bit longer practice period. A big reason that week four was canceled is that it is the most useless week of the preseason. That is the week that many of the starters rest anyway. It was a good move by the league. Still, the loss of two preseason games will make it much harder for backend players to make a team as they will not get enough reps.
As I stated above, we still could see fewer games being played in the preseason, or even none. The league is still hoping that the start of the regular season will go off without a hitch and that the games will be played with fans. As of now, NFL stadiums will have the top six or eight rows all blocked off with a tarp. We also note that the players and coaches are all expected to be tested three times a week and the League is toying with the idea of having fans sign a waiver in order to attend the games. The waiver would mean that the NFL or the owners would not be liable should any fans get sick at their games. The NFL is still finalizing other protocols that players and coaches must adhere to if they hope to participate in league games this year. I will keep you all posted.
Some Info Taken From Yahoo Sports & CBS Sports