Freddie Falcon
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- Mar 16, 2019
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As the NBA works on its own plan to reopen after the COVID-19 shutdown, the plan is to put players into a sequestered environment, in hopes of reducing the spread of the virus.
The NFL hasn’t gotten to that point — because they have the benefit of time — but the concerns about the spread of infection when they do go back to work is real.
Via Mike Giardi of NFL Network, Falcons center Alex Mack said he was more worried about the areas teams can’t control rather than the facilities they do, or the prospect of being in close proximity to defensive linemen when he’s playing and practicing.
“I’m mostly concerned with what people do in their own free time, not necessarily like being in the building with people or being on the line,” he said. “I think they’ll be cross contamination everywhere. I think it’s gonna be tough all the time. I don’t think offensive line or defensive line are all that much closer than other positions because you’re still touching people, still touching the ball, . . .
“Comes down to how can you control when people go home what they do, what the people at their home are doing. There’s just this whole spider web of effect of contamination that’s kind of hard to wrap your head around and figure out. The fear of the unknown concerns me.”
That puts Mack in line with much of the rest of the country, as people try to wear masks and socially distance to slow the spread of the virus. But when teams gather again, how they plan to respond and adapt to the seemingly inevitable infection of a player who is sharing space with teammates remains to be seen.