NFL hasn’t issued a blanket ban on workouts and visits

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The conflicting and inconsistent reports regarding whether or not (or not or whether) the Texans will be working out free-agent safety Earl Thomas created the impression that the workout didn’t happen because the NFL instructed all teams to pause workouts and visits due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Tennessee. That’s not the case.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, no such general mandate to pause visits or workouts has been issued by the league.

Whether the league told the Texans not to proceed with an Earl Thomas workout, or whether the Texans simply told Thomas that in order to gracefully bow out of the workout, is a different issue. Regardless, to the extent that the reporting regarding the abandoned Thomas workout creates the impression that workouts and visits can’t happen until the Titans situation is brought under control, that’s simply not the case.