Why Broncos and Ravens were Treated Differently by the NFL

The NFL had postponed other matches this season, including the Broncos match in New England in October, due to coronavirus cases. The Baltimore Ravens had just played their game in Pittsburgh, scheduled for Thanksgiving Eve, due to the league postponement. This game has now been postponed three times and is currently scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon, pending further test results. To these observers, the NFL’s approach to the Broncos’ position was unjust and unjust.

“I just feel like getting into the game, we are [weren’t] I was given a chance, ”said Karim Jackson, Broncos Salama, after Sunday’s contest took place as expected and the Saints won, 31-3.

But here’s what those critical of double standards failed to understand when the NFL’s attempt to play the full 2020 season amid the pandemic: Fair has nothing to do with it.

The NFL has told teams this season is not about competitive ownership; It’s about trying to find ways to run the season as safely and completely as possible. League leaders also said the games were only being postponed for medical reasons, not due to competitive issues.

“Medical considerations and government directives will be of paramount importance in determining when the match will be postponed,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in an October 13th memo to the teams. “In light of the great additional list flexibility applied for this season, and in the absence of medical considerations, matches will not be postponed or rescheduled solely to avoid the list problems caused by injury or disease affecting multiple players, even within the center group.”

This contrast between medical concerns and competitive issues has never been more apparent than in recent days with the high-profile cases in Broncos and Ravens.

In the case of the Ravens, the NFL and its medical experts had been dealing with the second major team outbreak of the season, following the one experienced by the Tennessee Titans in late September and early October. Positive tests for Ravens players and team staff continued to appear on a daily basis. Ravens once had 23 players on their covid-19 backup list, which is for players who tested positive for the coronavirus and those who were identified through contact tracing that they had been exposed to the virus.

“Health and safety was the top priority on every point,” said Allen Sales, the NFL’s chief medical officer, in a telephone interview in October. “I think this is an important point that needs to be emphasized, that there has never been a top priority assigned to anything related to the schedule or competition. It was all about what is the safest possible outcome … what you are looking for is to make sure the infection does not spread. On a large scale and you look to make sure that you have the ability to create a safe environment for everyone who is not infected. “

The NFL relies on its daily tests of players, coaches, and staff of a particular team and on its strict protocols as it works in a non-bubble setting with teams based in their home cities. The league knows that with players and staff returning home every night and potentially exposed to the virus away from team facilities, it will have to deal with positive cases. Its approach is to identify infected people as quickly as possible and isolate them to prevent transmission within the team. The NFL amended its protocols in October to impose a five-day quarantine for those identified as high-risk close contacts.

The NFL (NFL) contact tracking device is advanced using electronic tracking devices. The genetic sequence is used to help determine, when there are multiple cases in the team, whether there is transmission of the virus within the team or if the cases are unrelated and originate separately outside the facility. When the league’s medical experts can’t handle that and the outbreak continues unabated, then disruptions to the schedule.

“I would say in those cases where we have postponed matches, where we had what we consider to be an ongoing transfer that we don’t understand very much,” Sales said earlier this season.

This was the case with crows. This was not the case with the Bronco. In the case of Broncos, quarterback Jeff Driskill reportedly tested positive last week. The NFL decided on Saturday that fellow midfielders Drew Locke, Brett Repin and Blake Bortles were high-risk close contacts, and were placed in quarantine.

“You risk putting all of the midfielders in the same room,” said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, in a radio interview Tuesday with Dallas 105.3 The Fan. “If you’re worried about this stuff, you can post it a little. … we were taught in the NFL, and these teams were taught that it’s really better to pay attention to your protocols. Better to manage. Don’t just rant, but rather rant.” Turn your eyes back and say, ‘This is happening to them. It didn’t happen to me.’

The protocols developed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association include strict requirements for mask wearing. When the NFL tightened its protocols recently, teams were told that all meetings should be held remotely and any in-person meetings should be outdoors. In-house meetings are permitted in some cases but not recommended.

Locke admitted in a written statement on Sunday that the midfielders had not fully complied with the requirements for wearing masks. Broncos coach Vic Fangio said after Sunday’s game that he was “disappointed” that the midfielders “put us in this position”. Wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who was promoted from the coaching staff because he had experience as college moderators at Wake Forest, had one achievement, two interceptions, and a 0.0 pass rating against the Saints.

“Earlier in the year, our game was postponed,” Jackson said in a video conference after the game on Sunday. “Obviously the circumstances could be different. But I just feel, I mean, us [weren’t] Giving the same opportunity as putting our game back or delaying it or anything like that. “

Even if some disagree with the approach, the NFL is not about to change course.

“We’ve known for some time that the 2020 season will be different than any other season,” Goodell wrote in his note in October. “We will continue to face challenges due to uncertainty and it is required to address a wide range of factors, which require us to be flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances, and to understand that the same level of competitive stocks that we strive to achieve every year may not be attainable throughout this season.”