09-20-2020, 03:06 PM
On pandemic road trip, Vikings aim to get in, get out and stay safeVikings' trip to Indy involves whole new set of road rules.
The biggest victory of the NFL’s Week 1 happened in the run-up to Week 2: No players were added to the COVID-19 reserve list Monday through Friday, signaling a successful first weekend of travel for teams amid a pandemic.
Outside of a lab contamination that turned up 12 “false positives” on Aug. 23, the Vikings have been without a player on the COVID list since Aug. 13. Strict leaguewide traveling protocols are designed to keep it that way during the team’s first road trip of the season for Sunday’s game against the Colts in Indianapolis.
Players often talk about road games as “business trips” to avoid distractions that come with visits to places like Los Angeles and Miami, but under new road rules for the 2020 season they won’t be able to do much but focus on the game. Hosting family, taking an Uber ride and eating at a restaurant are among the prohibited actions for road teams this year.
“My family in previous years have flown to games and I’ve met them at the hotel,” cornerback Mike Hughes said. “Obviously, we can’t do that this year, so it’ll be pretty different. It’s a business trip at the end of the day. We go there to do one thing, and that’s win a football game, so that’s what we’re focused on.”
Personal responsibility has been a topic in Vikings team meetings throughout the pandemic. Because all NFL teams — home or away — are required to stay at a hotel the night before games, the Vikings got a dry run of sorts before the season opener against the Packers for the protocols they’ll follow in Indianapolis.
“The whole thing is different, but it was different last week, too,” coach Mike Zimmer said.
He added, “This might be a little bit more normal now that we’ve been through this one time.”
Road trip rules
Vikings players, coaches and personnel took the week’s final COVID-19 test on Saturday before boarding flights for Indianapolis. The NFL has encouraged teams to charter two planes to maintain social distancing requirements. One empty seat is required between members of the traveling party, which is limited to 70 non-players, including coaching and medical staffs and other essential personnel. Players are not being tested on game days, and therefore aren’t allowed in team facilities the day after games.
When the Vikings arrived in Indianapolis, chartered buses weren’t supposed to carry more than 50% capacity to the team hotel. Players need to handle their own luggage the entire time. A separate entrance for the team will be secured at the hotel, and a block of lower-level rooms was arranged so elevators aren’t needed.
“Got a little bit of a taste of what that’s like,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said of staying at the team hotel last weekend. “If anything, it’ll just be very simple and we’ll be focused on football and won’t have a lot of other distractions of any kind.”
Masks and proximity devices (for contact tracing) will continue to be required on team planes and buses, and during meetings at the hotel. All people in close contact with the team, whether working for the hotel or transportation, must clear COVID-19 screening beforehand.
Players get their own hotel rooms, where nobody from outside the team is allowed, and are barred from using shared facilities like the gym. Meals will be prepackaged, takeout or through contactless delivery.
“Typically, guys go out to restaurants the night before, and they can’t do that,” Zimmer said. “Those things are going to be different, but once you get to the stadium, I think this week will be more normal than it was last week. Last week there was a lot of things going on, a lot of uncertainty.”
‘Pretty seamless’
The NFL requires road teams to hold at least three empty hotel rooms near the game for anybody exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Those were seemingly unneeded last weekend as players returned unscathed. The Colts were in Jacksonville, where in a quasi-bubble nearly 60 players were sustained by food in Styrofoam containers instead of buffet-style catering.
“Pretty seamless,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “Our operations crew did a good job being out in front of everything and made it real easy for the players and coaches. The biggest difference was getting to the hotel, where a lot of times guys are heading out grabbing something to eat. With the new protocols, that doesn’t happen. The food modifications were probably the biggest noticeable difference.”
The NFL may update travel protocols as data is analyzed from proximity trackers, which can record interactions within 6 feet of each other. The league is also working with health officials in Kansas City and Jacksonville, according to Yahoo Sports, to monitor whether a spike in COVID-19 positive cases follows fans attending games in those areas.
https://www.startribune.com/on-pandemic-...572466881/
The biggest victory of the NFL’s Week 1 happened in the run-up to Week 2: No players were added to the COVID-19 reserve list Monday through Friday, signaling a successful first weekend of travel for teams amid a pandemic.
Outside of a lab contamination that turned up 12 “false positives” on Aug. 23, the Vikings have been without a player on the COVID list since Aug. 13. Strict leaguewide traveling protocols are designed to keep it that way during the team’s first road trip of the season for Sunday’s game against the Colts in Indianapolis.
Players often talk about road games as “business trips” to avoid distractions that come with visits to places like Los Angeles and Miami, but under new road rules for the 2020 season they won’t be able to do much but focus on the game. Hosting family, taking an Uber ride and eating at a restaurant are among the prohibited actions for road teams this year.
“My family in previous years have flown to games and I’ve met them at the hotel,” cornerback Mike Hughes said. “Obviously, we can’t do that this year, so it’ll be pretty different. It’s a business trip at the end of the day. We go there to do one thing, and that’s win a football game, so that’s what we’re focused on.”
Personal responsibility has been a topic in Vikings team meetings throughout the pandemic. Because all NFL teams — home or away — are required to stay at a hotel the night before games, the Vikings got a dry run of sorts before the season opener against the Packers for the protocols they’ll follow in Indianapolis.
“The whole thing is different, but it was different last week, too,” coach Mike Zimmer said.
He added, “This might be a little bit more normal now that we’ve been through this one time.”
Road trip rules
Vikings players, coaches and personnel took the week’s final COVID-19 test on Saturday before boarding flights for Indianapolis. The NFL has encouraged teams to charter two planes to maintain social distancing requirements. One empty seat is required between members of the traveling party, which is limited to 70 non-players, including coaching and medical staffs and other essential personnel. Players are not being tested on game days, and therefore aren’t allowed in team facilities the day after games.
When the Vikings arrived in Indianapolis, chartered buses weren’t supposed to carry more than 50% capacity to the team hotel. Players need to handle their own luggage the entire time. A separate entrance for the team will be secured at the hotel, and a block of lower-level rooms was arranged so elevators aren’t needed.
“Got a little bit of a taste of what that’s like,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said of staying at the team hotel last weekend. “If anything, it’ll just be very simple and we’ll be focused on football and won’t have a lot of other distractions of any kind.”
Masks and proximity devices (for contact tracing) will continue to be required on team planes and buses, and during meetings at the hotel. All people in close contact with the team, whether working for the hotel or transportation, must clear COVID-19 screening beforehand.
Players get their own hotel rooms, where nobody from outside the team is allowed, and are barred from using shared facilities like the gym. Meals will be prepackaged, takeout or through contactless delivery.
“Typically, guys go out to restaurants the night before, and they can’t do that,” Zimmer said. “Those things are going to be different, but once you get to the stadium, I think this week will be more normal than it was last week. Last week there was a lot of things going on, a lot of uncertainty.”
‘Pretty seamless’
The NFL requires road teams to hold at least three empty hotel rooms near the game for anybody exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. Those were seemingly unneeded last weekend as players returned unscathed. The Colts were in Jacksonville, where in a quasi-bubble nearly 60 players were sustained by food in Styrofoam containers instead of buffet-style catering.
“Pretty seamless,” Colts coach Frank Reich said. “Our operations crew did a good job being out in front of everything and made it real easy for the players and coaches. The biggest difference was getting to the hotel, where a lot of times guys are heading out grabbing something to eat. With the new protocols, that doesn’t happen. The food modifications were probably the biggest noticeable difference.”
The NFL may update travel protocols as data is analyzed from proximity trackers, which can record interactions within 6 feet of each other. The league is also working with health officials in Kansas City and Jacksonville, according to Yahoo Sports, to monitor whether a spike in COVID-19 positive cases follows fans attending games in those areas.
https://www.startribune.com/on-pandemic-...572466881/