NFL expanding sideline bench areas, mandating postgame mask use for players
Reacting to the two incidents in which players participated in a game Sunday and learned the next day that the results of their pre-game COVID-19 test turned up positive, the NFL sent a memo to teams on Tuesday urging stricter practices in some areas of prevention while implementing new standards in others.
To allow for more adequate physical distancing practices, teams' sideline bench areas now will extend from one 20-yard line to the other rather than from the 30 to 30.
The NFL also will require players to wear masks for postgame interactions, such as when they exchange pleasantries with their opponents on the field.
The league also is urging teams to strongly encourage players to wear masks while they are on the sideline during games and in locker rooms.
“We’re trying to double down on (preventing) high-risk close contacts during game day,” NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said on a conference call Tuesday.
He later added, “Our No. 1 priority is the health and safety of everyone involved. We want to be as safe as possible and that’s why we go through the detailed exercise of contact tracing. That’s why we go through the detailed exercise of identifying high-risk contacts. We continue to consider that every one of our 32 clubs are vulnerable to infection every single day we’re in business, just like all of us are in the country right now and we have to be extremely vigilant in the measures that we know right now mitigate risks.”
Last weekend, Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey took his COVID-19 test, played against the Steelers and learned the next morning that he had produced a positive result.
The Ravens had six players fall in that high-risk close contact category. As a precaution, they must isolate for five days.
Meanwhile, Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillon also learned Monday morning that he tested positive. Packers running back Jamaal Williams and linebacker Kamal Martin were deemed high-risk close contacts and are isolating.
The Packers are scheduled to play Thursday night at the San Francisco 49ers, and NFL chief football administrative officer Dawn Aponte said the game remains on track.