Joel Bitonio says the Browns have gained a lot through the virtual offseason program. (brownsnation.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Questions and answers on the state of the NFL in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic …
Why were joint practices between the Browns and Green Bay Packers scheduled for Aug. 17-18 cancelled?
In a memo to NFL teams sent Tuesday and obtained by ESPN, Commissioner Roger Goodell said all joint practices were cancelled to limit exposure risks in travel and contact between players on different clubs.
Goodell also said all 32 teams must hold training camp at their respective main facilities. The Browns have been doing that since 1999, so it won’t be a change for them. In 2019, only 10 teams held their training camps away from their main facilities.
When will the Browns report to training camp?
If this were a normal year, July 29 would have been the logical reporting date. While the NFL is hoping to keep its calendar as close as possible to normal, nothing is certain. Browns center JC Tretter, who knows as much as any player in his role as NFLPA president, said on May 19, “I have been trying to live in kind of two-week increments because the information is ever-changing and ever-evolving.”
Will fans be allowed to attend training camp?
A team source informed me that decision has not yet been made.
When will Browns players be allowed back in their facility?
Goodell recently extended the virtual offseason program league-wide to run through June 12. He is hoping to get players and coaches to their facilities prior to then. If so, Goodell hopes to have teams conduct a minicamp on the field before offseason programs end on June 26. That date – which signals summer vacation throughout the NFL -- is a hard deadline negotiated with the NFLPA.
What will the Browns have accomplished if they don’t get on the field together prior to training camp?
In a normal year, the Browns would be in their second week of OTA practices on the field. This year, they have yet to meet their new coach, Kevin Stefanski, face-to-face as a team.
On a Zoom call on Tuesday, guard Joel Bitonio said, “It has been different, for sure. I do think the Zoom meetings have been successful for us. We have the whole offense’s base installed, at least, and there is an understanding of things. That might be easier for guys who have been in the league for going on seven years now because I have been in a few offenses and I kind of understand how to install it. From that perspective, I get it.
“Then, working out on your own, it is kind of a check list of who is really pushing themselves and who is not. It is going to be interesting when we come together for training camp, if that is the next step, of how are we are going to establish on the field. You can understand from a book and paper perspective, but once you get on the field and bullets start flying and you are ready to roll, so from that perspective, it will be interesting to see. It might take a couple weeks to get up to speed in that sense, but if you get your six weeks of training camp, I think you are going to have plenty of time to get the plays in and an understanding of the offense. I know we have a good foundation set, and we still have a few more weeks of this offseason program to keep building on that.”
Will the NFL season start on time?
It’s still too early to say. The Thursday league opener is Sept. 10. The Browns’ season-opener is Sept. 13 in Baltimore. Everything depends on training camp starting on time.
Will the season start with fans in the stands?
About 30 percent of league revenue is derived from fan attendance. Less league revenue means less money to be shared by the players. Less revenue in 2020 means a lower salary cap in 2021. So, if delaying the start of the season means playing games with fans in the stands, it’s possible the league and players will agree to delay.
What happens if the season doesn’t start on time?
The NFL has a built-in safety net to delay the start of the season. The Super Bowl is slated for Feb. 7 in Tampa, FL. The league has already secured alternative dates on Feb. 14 and Feb. 21 and Feb. 28. That means if the traditional one-week bye prior to the Super Bowl is eliminated, the NFL conceivably could delay the start of the season by a maximum of four weeks.
Restrictions seem to be loosening throughout the country. So why is the start of the NFL season even in doubt?
We’ll go back to Tretter for this answer. “You can’t expect just to throw football back in and think that the virus is going to kneel down to almighty football,” he said.