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COVID-19 News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/29/21

July 29th, 2021 at 5:34pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Houston Texans

  • Signed: WR Jordan Veasy

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: OT Chidi Okeke
  • Waived: OT Calvin Ashley

Tennessee Titans

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Bud Dupree; Dupree remains on Tennessee’s active/PUP list as well

Washington Football Team

Terrelle Pryor: Vaccine Decision Holding Up Tryout

July 26th, 2021 at 9:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Terrelle Pryor has not played since the 2018 season, and the quarterback-turned-wideout only suited up for eight contests that year. But the former 1,000-yard receiver said a team has offered a workout. This will come to pass only if he has received the COVID-19 vaccine, which Pryor indicated he has not done as of this past weekend (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio).

The NFLPA bargained for player vaccines being optional, though it is mandatory for staffers in order to work with players directly. And teams are not permitted to cut players because of vaccine decisions. But free agents will have less flexibility under the 2021 protocols.

Teams can ask free agents if they are vaccinated, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). A player refusing to answer this question will be treated as unvaccinated. This practice is ongoing, Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson tweets, noting several free agents have been asked about their vaccination status thus far.

[RELATED: NFL, NFLPA Agree To Virus Protocols]

Given the protocol disparity between vaccinated an unvaccinated players, it certainly makes sense for teams to inquire before committing to a free agent. Free agents who have not received the coronavirus vaccine must go through the five-day testing period that newcomers navigated in 2020. Players who have received the vaccine are also exempt from being classified as a high-risk close contact, a designation that cost numerous players practice and game time last season. It will also be up to teams to classify their respective rosters’ vaccinated and unvaccinated players, Florio adds.

Free agents at this point of the year generally do not qualify as essential pieces, and a team would be taking a risk were it to sign an unvaccinated role player. Pryor is now 32 and, after his 1,007-yard season for the 2016 Browns, totaled just 492 between the 2017 and ’18 campaigns. Pryor was stabbed in 2019, and his 2020 comeback attempt did not end up taking shape. A potential last chance at an NFL gig may hinge on his vaccine decision.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/24/21

July 24th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: LB Ray Wilborn
  • Placed on active/PUP list: RB Patrick Taylor

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Vikings Keep Rick Dennison On Staff

July 23rd, 2021 at 6:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

6:29pm: Dennison’s agent has chimed in on this situation, indicating his client remains in the picture for the Vikings, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling (on Twitter). The Vikings have indeed managed to retain Dennison, keeping him on staff as a senior offensive advisor. Rauscher remains in place as the team’s offensive line coach.

3:31pm: The Vikings released a statement indicating that while Dennison does not have a medical or religious exemption to avoid the vaccine under the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, he and the team continue to hold discussions, the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson tweets. These discussions would seemingly be centered around Dennison changing his mind on the vaccine, but it does not appear he is 100% out the door just yet.

2:44pm: Vikings offensive line coach Rick Dennison will not be with the team going forward. The longtime NFL assistant is done with the Vikings due to his refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com reports.

While the NFLPA bargained for players to not be required to receive the vaccine, coaches must provide medical or religious grounds in order to refuse it. Otherwise, they cannot work with players onsite. Dennison’s refusal will wrap his two-plus-year tenure with the Vikings, who hired him as their O-line coach in January 2019. Minnesota will promote assistant O-line coach Phil Rauscher to fill the position, Cronin adds.

The Vikings hired Dennison after bringing Gary Kubiak aboard as offensive coordinator, and he was set to work under new OC Klint Kubiak this season. Dennison, 63, was set to serve as a key aid for the younger Kubiak this season. He is believed to be the first coach to part ways with a team due to a vaccination refusal. The Vikings also hired Ben Steele to fill Rauscher’s assistant O-line coach post, per Cronin. Steele spent the past two seasons with the Falcons; he worked as their tight ends coach in 2020.

Dennison had been on Gary Kubiak’s Super Bowl-winning Broncos staff as OC and initially rose to an NFL offensive coordinator role by succeeding Kubiak in that post in Denver in 2006. Dennison later worked under Kubiak as OC in Houston and was the Bills’ OC in 2017. The former Broncos linebacker has been an NFL assistant since Mike Shanahan began his HC tenure in Denver in 1995.

This marks the second time in four years the Vikings have needed to replace their O-line coach in July. Tony Sparano‘s death in July 2018 forced Minnesota to rearrange its staff. Dennison became Sparano’s full-time replacement months later, also working as the team’s run-game coordinator.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/23/21

July 23rd, 2021 at 5:21pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Arizona Cardinals

Jacksonville Jaguars

Miami Dolphins

  • Signed: CB Cre’Von LeBlanc
  • Waived: DE Nick Coe, LS Rex Sunahara

New England Patriots

  • Signed: TE David Wells

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Patriots Co-Offensive Line Coach Off Staff Due To COVID-19 Policy

July 23rd, 2021 at 3:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following Rick Dennison‘s departure from the Vikings due to a COVID-19 vaccine refusal, the Patriots will also part ways with one of their offensive line coaches.

Co-offensive line coach Cole Popovich is off the Patriots’ staff, Jim McBride of the Boston Globe reports. Popovich is gone due to his refusal to comply with the NFL’s vaccine policy, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com adds (on Twitter). Popovich and Carmen Bricillo worked as co-O-line coaches in New England last season, but McBride adds the latter will helm the position solo this year.

Popovich, 36, has been with the Patriots since 2016. He broke into the NFL on Bill Belichick‘s staff and moved up to assistant running backs coach in 2019. In 2020, the Pats promoted he and Bricillo to fill the void created by famed O-line coach Dante Scarnecchia‘s retirement. Popovich’s NFL career is now in limbo.

In order to work with players, coaches must be vaccinated. The NFL has not required players to be vaccinated, but staffers — in order to qualify for Tier 1 or Tier 2 status — must either do so or provide medical or religious grounds for refusing. Teams are not permitted to cut players because of their refusal to be vaccinated, though they can jettison unvaccinated players for other reasons. However, no such rule is in place for coaches. NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said Friday nearly 100% of NFL staffs are vaccinated, so it will be interesting to see if any additional coaches are moved off staff in the coming days.

NFL To Keep 2020 Roster Rules In Place

July 23rd, 2021 at 3:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

The roster flexibility the NFL gave teams amid the COVID-19 pandemic last season will remain in place for the 2021 campaign, according to ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert. The league may go back to its more restrictive standard setup someday, but it will not happen this season.

Teams will have the option of bringing players off injured reserve after three weeks, and there will continue to be no limitations on how many players return from IR per team. Not that long ago, an IR designation meant a player’s season was over. Then, the NFL steadily loosened restrictions on this roster move during the 2010s. Last season, injured players returned to active rosters regularly; they will be in position to do so again this year.

[RELATED: Unvaccinated Players Could Lead To Forfeited Games]

Additionally, practice squads will remain at 16 players. They resided at 10 in 2019, but the pandemic-era change expanded them. Teams also can carry six players with more than two accrued seasons on their respective taxi squads. The 2020 CBA was set to expand practice squads, but they were only slated to be at 12 in 2021. Although this COVID-induced adjustment may not be permanent, more players will have NFL jobs again in 2021.

While teams are not expected to face as many coronavirus-caused roster crunches this season, given the vaccines’ emergence, select players have been placed on reserve/COVID-19 lists to start training camp. As a whole, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes that 16 teams have surpassed the 85% vaccination threshold. That number has been steadily ticking up in the weeks leading to camp. All but five teams are at least 70% vaccinated.

NFL: Unvaccinated Players Could Lead Forfeited Games 

July 23rd, 2021 at 8:36am CST by Zachary Links

The NFL isn’t forcing players to get vaccinated, but they are finding other ways to encourage it. In a memo to teams, the league explained that teams with outbreaks among unvaccinated players will be required to forfeit if their game cannot be rescheduled inside of the 18-week season (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The forfeit would impact playoff seeding for the team. And, in that event, players would be paid for the game.

“If a game is cancelled/postponed because a club cannot play due to a Covid spike among or resulting from its non-vaccinated players/staff, then the burden of the cancellation or delay will fall on the club experiencing the Covid infection,” the NFL said in the memo. “We will seek to minimize the burden on the opposing club or clubs. If a club cannot play due to a Covid spike in vaccinated individuals, we will attempt to minimize the competitive and economic burden on both participating teams.”

“We do not anticipate adding a ’19th week’ to accommodate games that cannot be rescheduled within the current 18 weeks of the regular season.”

Furthermore, the team responsible for the cancellation would be responsible for covering costs. There could also be additional discipline from the league office.

Every team has at least 50% of its players vaccinated, Pelissero hears. Presumably, teams will be working harder than ever to get the number towards 100%.

The new guidelines weren’t received well by everyone. Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was among those to speak out on social media in a since-deleted tweet.

“Never thought I would say this, But being in a position to hurt my team because I don’t want to partake in the vaccine is making me question my future in the NFL,” Hopkins wrote.

Latest On NFL, COVID-19 Vaccine

July 18th, 2021 at 10:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

As training camps rapidly approach, issues related to the COVID-19 vaccine continue to be omnipresent in the NFL landscape. Ever since the league and NFLPA agreed to protocols for the 2021 season that will make life much easier for vaccinated players, the vaccination rate has steadily been ticking up.

That continues to be the case. 13 teams now have at least 85 percent of their players vaccinated, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Things are clearly moving at a brisk pace, since just a couple of days before a source had told Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that it was nine teams (Twitter link). As of Pelissero’s tweet, 73.8 percent of players league-wide had gotten at least one shot.

Two teams remained below 50 percent. Players who aren’t vaccinated will face heavy restrictions for this season, including having to travel separately to road games and not being allowed to do virtually anything while out of town. As Pelissero put it at the time, road games will essentially boil down to “fly by yourself and sit in your room until kickoff” for unvaccinated players.

Meanwhile, while many players have declined to share their status, they might not be able to keep their decisions to themselves much longer. That’s because a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com that the league and union are “working out the details” for a system of “identifying vaccinated players during practices and games.”

The source told Florio that it’s a “core concern.” As Florio notes, if that system includes visible identification during games, it won’t be hard for the media and fans to figure out. This one could certainly spark some drama, and we’ll let you know once we hear more.

Seven Teams Exceed 85% Vaccination Threshold

July 12th, 2021 at 1:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

MONDAY: A seventh team has crossed the 85% barrier, Pelissero adds (on Twitter). As for the players who have received at least one vaccine dose, that number has now surpassed 70%.

FRIDAY: With training camps less than three weeks away, an interesting date is approaching regarding vaccinations. Any player who has not received two vaccine doses, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, by Monday will not be considered fully vaccinated by camp. But the number of players who have taken that step continues to increase.

Six teams have hit the 85% vaccination threshold, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. This includes the Broncos, who have seen nearly 95% of their 90-man roster receive one or two vaccine doses, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.

[RELATED: No Players Opt Out Of 2021 Season]

As a whole, the NFL’s player base has surpassed the 69% vaccination threshold, Pelissero adds. This is up from 65% two weeks ago. Geared around players’ vaccination decisions, this season’s COVID-19 protocols create two sets of rules. Teams who reach high vaccination levels will have advantages.

Players who choose not to be vaccinated — a right the NFLPA collectively bargained, though teams’ Tier 1 and Tier 2 staffers are required to do so — must take virus tests daily once camp starts and will face the prospect of missing multiple games if they test positive. Nearly all Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel are vaccinated, Pelissero tweets. Coaches fall under this umbrella; a coach must be fully vaccinated to be allowed to work directly with players.

The league’s high-risk close contact policy still applies to unvaccinated players, who, like last season, would need to isolate for five days if they are classified as such. Teams with lower vaccination rates will also need to create social distancing setups for their unvaccinated sects of players; this will pertain to meetings and affect weight-room policies.

The Dolphins, Saints and Steelers joined the Broncos in being around the 85% threshold in late June, and the Jaguars and Panthers had progressed to near that rate at that point. Twenty-nine teams begin training camp July 27.

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