Buccaneers' Donovan Smith: NFL players' return to action amid coronavirus pandemic 'does not seem like a risk worth taking'

In an Instagram post Friday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers left tackle Donovan Smith expressed concern over the NFL's return plan and the risk of playing football amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While Smith did not say whether he would opt out of the upcoming season, he questioned the safety of returning to play.

"To continue discussing the many UNKNOWNS do not give me the comfort," the post read. "Risking my health as well as my family’s health does not seem like a risk worth taking."

Smith, who has a baby due in three weeks, worried that because his position requires contact on every play, he would not be able to take proper precautions to ensure he did not bring the virus back to his household.

The NFL recently proposed to the NFLPA that 35 percent of players' 2020 salaries be placed in escrow for the upcoming season. Smith took issue with that proposal, saying, "That should at LEAST warrant a pay raise due to the risk, not a cut."

Last week, JC Tretter, a center for the Cleveland Browns and the president of the NFLPA, criticized the NFL's health and safety protocols, saying the league was "unwilling to prioritize player safety." The NFLPA has also asked for no preseason games to be played to minimize health risks.

With just over two weeks until training camps start, the continued fight over health and safety protocols between the league and its players remains a significant roadblock.

Smith, a second-round pick out of Penn State in 2015 who has been a five-year starter for the Buccaneers, ended his post with a strongly-worded sentiment.

"I am not a lab rat or guinea pig to test theories on," Smith said. "I am a man, a son, brother, soon to be father, and I deserve to be safe at work."