Monday Morning Charge: NFLPA advises players to avoid working out with teammates

Find out the news for the Buffalo Bills this past week, including a recommendation to halt player driven workouts.

In a statement released by the NFLPA on June 20th, lead medical director for the PA, Dr. Thom Mayer proclaimed that players should stop “practicing together”, something the Buffalo Bills players did last month, and wait until team training camp opens in July.

This statement from the NFLPA comes In the wake of a difficult week for NFL players and fans that hope to see a season kickoff in the fall. First, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke about the possibility of exactly that.

“Unless players are essentially in a bubble – insulated from the community and they are tested nearly every day – it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall,” Fauci said.

Secondly, there was an increase in the spread of COVID-19 among players in recent days with multiple players on the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys, including Cowboys’ star running back Ezekiel Elliott all testing positive.

Getting in off-site workouts has been one way that teammates have been able to familiarize themselves with their new surroundings and teammates. For the Buffalo Bills, there have been numerous captured workouts that have shown the Bills offense coming to together on high school fields around the country. With Josh Allen still working on getting to know his shiny-new toy in Stefon Diggs, this halt in organized workouts could be detrimental to the development of their chemistry.