The NFL – and the Browns – can learn a lot from MLB protocol miscues

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

Takeaways from the world of sports in a pandemic …

1.Since everything changed on March 12, the NFL has always held an advantage over the other sports because of its late-season calendar. It is still deriving benefits from that advantage.

The examples of breached protocol experienced by MLB’s Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals and, yes, Cleveland Indians is an invaluable lesson for NFL teams.

Unprotected by a league-wide bubble that is clearly working for the NBA and NHL, MLB has had to rely on players policing themselves when on the road. Other than the Marlins, Cardinals and Indians, MLB has been able to stagger through the challenges presented by Covid-19.

Ensconced in the early phase of training camp, NFL teams have created mini-bubbles in their respective facilities. In 16 days of daily testing, 106 players (of approximately 2,000) have been placed on the Covid-19 reserve list. At last count, 75 players on the list have been cleared to rejoin their teammates. The incidence of positive tests has steadily decreased.

The real test, of course, will come when the regular season kicks in and teams go on the road.

Can players – and coaches and staff members – maintain the discipline to comply with protocols and not fall into the trap of leaving their hotel rooms? You would think the cases of the Marlins, Cardinals and Indians would drive the point home.

Also, as it pertains to the Browns, you would hope they would follow the lead of center JC Tretter, the NFLPA president.

Tretter represented them in negotiations with team owners and argued staunchly for safety precautions and the rights for players to opt out from playing if they are high-risk or simply uncomfortable with proceeding.

Tretter is staying in the team hotel while his wife is pregnant with their first child. Tretter easily could have opted out of the 2020 season – as have others – but chose not to. If Tretter opted out, it would create a huge void in the middle of the Browns offensive line. It also would have sent a chilling message to the rank-and-file that he serves.

If every Browns player demonstrates the same selflessness as Tretter, they’ll be fine.

2.A significant challenge for the Browns is learning a new offense without the benefit of a normal offseason program and preseason games, which was ravaged by the pandemic. A silver lining in this regard is that new tight end Austin Hooper, who figures to be a key player this season, knows the Kevin Stefanski offense better than most of his new teammates, save for backup quarterback Case Keenum.

Hooper broke in as a rookie with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 when Kyle Shanahan was their offensive coordinator. Hooper averaged 14.3 yards per catch on 19 receptions that season, and then added a touchdown in the Falcons’ epic loss to the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

That Shanahan offense is a facsimile to what Stefanski intends to run in his first year as coach of the Browns.

“Schematically, it is very similar,” Hooper said. “A lot of outside zone, play-action keepers, the three- to five-step concepts are similar and the play-action shots that come off of it are very similar. For me, it is refreshing because in my four seasons at Atlanta, I had three different coordinators and had to learn three different offenses. It is cool to be back in something that I already know.”

3.Jarvis Landry’s activation from the PUP list is a great sign that the receiver can not only be ready for the season opener but also be close to 100 percent.

Since having hip surgery in February, Landry was hopeful he’d be “ready” for the season. “Ready” means being available to play. But being cleared to practice at this point allows Landry ample time to get in all of the team practices beginning on Friday.

If there are no setbacks, Landry should be able to participate in all 14 padded practices of Phase 3 of training camp, beginning on August 17.