FMIA: Tour Of Vikings Complex Gives Insight Into NFL’s New Normal In ’20

[Nichelle]

EAGAN, Minn. — The head coach lost his parking space. COVID-19 casualty.
There’s a 40-foot BioReference Laboratories trailer in space 136 in the players/coaches parking lot just outside the entry where every essential Vikings employee will arrive to work this year. The trailer has four COVID testing bays, with certified testing agents ready to do about 180 nasal-swab tests of players, staff and coaches when they report to camp in the coming days. Space 136 is labeled “HEAD COACH.” It is Mike Zimmer’s spot. Or was.
“Has anyone told Coach Zim he doesn’t have a parking spot anymore?” tight end Kyle Rudolph said the other day, trepidation in his voice.
Yes. Veteran athletic trainer Eric Sugarman, now doubling as the team’s Infection Control Officer, told the fiery Zimmer.
“What the —-!” Zimmer said.
“But Mike gets it,” Sugarman said. “He gets it because he has to get it. Every head coach has to get it this year. That doesn’t mean they’re gonna like it.”


Video and more at LINK: https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/07/20/minnesota-vikings-complex-tour-nfl-covid-peter-king-fmia/

[Guest]

Interesting story. But not every NFL facility is as spacious and modern as the Vikings'. And one positive player test is all it takes. What a logistical nightmare.

[Guest]

Fascinating piece. Interesting that there are some new job titles: ICO (Infection Control Officer) and CPC (COVID Protocol Coordinator). My guess is that the Vikings are managing this as well or better than any team in the NFL, because their front office is top notch and their facilities state of the art. I'd be curious to know how, say, the Lions are handling this. 

Another thing. The distancing in the facility is so well planned out, but what happens out on the practice field when a corner tangles with a receiver or a tackle faces off against a pass rushing defensive end? There is so much breath and spit and aspirated particles released during those exchanges, it's hard to see the value of distancing when they return to the facility. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
The distancing in the facility is so well planned out, but what happens out on the practice field when a corner tangles with a receiver or a tackle faces off against a pass rushing defensive end? There is so much breath and spit and aspirated particles released during those exchanges, it's hard to see the value of distancing when they return to the facility. 

Thats the hilarity and hypocrisy of all of this...All the $$$ and man-hours to get to even this point. Now only 6 to a hot-tub instead of 12? Play tackle on the LOS but sit one chair away from each other in meeting rooms?

Lol... 

NFL Players are just a microcosm of society too, albeit a rich one:

Andrew Whitworth: “I don’t feel great about the chances. Not that it can’t be done. But it’s going to be hard this year to have a high quality of play, and play to the finish. How do you keep the game fair if teams have key players going in and out of the lineup?

The calls I’ve been in on with the [NFLPA] this summer—there’s been more fear than I expected. There’s a broad spectrum. Some guys are like, ‘I don’t want to be around anyone who’s been exposed to the virus.’ Some guys are like, ‘Let’s do it.’ Some guys are changeable. It’s going to be different. I think coaches are going to have to be counselors as much as coaches this year. There’s going to be a lot of emotion among the players.”