Ravens John Harbaugh says NFL reopening protocols are “humanly impossible”

This offseason has been one unlike any other for the country, the world, and especially the sports world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It hadn’t majorly affected the operation of the NFL like hit has some of the other major sporting leagues up to this point outside of canceling pro days and physical pre-draft visits, forcing the draft itself to go virtual and prohibiting all team from holding any organized team actives (OTAs) and mini camps of any kind.

While that may sound like quite a bit, at least the NFL didn’t have to suspend their season just before the postseason or postpone the start of it like the NBA and MLB have been forced to do. However, the NFL is still facing its fair share of challenges as they try to gear up for the 2020 season.

Cities large and small around the country are starting to open up again as we all try to get used to the new normal until a vaccine is readily available for public consumption. Last week coaching staffs were allowed back into their respective team facilities and on Sunday the NFL sent out an official memo to all 32 teams detailing the procedures and protocols for the eventual return of players and other employees to team facilities as well with a specification on how training camp will be conducted.

Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh said the organization will comply with whatever rules and requirements are instituted to prevent any further spread of COVID-19. However, he believes that guidelines that require social distancing just about everywhere in the building need to be revised for practicality before they try to fully get into the swing of things.

On Thursday he was interviewed on 105.7 The Fan’s “Inside Access with Jason La Canfora & Ken Weinman” and said the new protocols will be “humanly impossible” to follow.

“I’ve seen all the memos on that, and to be quite honest with you, it’s impossible what they’re asking us to do. Humanly impossible,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to do everything we can do. We’re going to space, we’re going to have masks. But, you know, this is a communication sport. So if we want to get out there and have any idea about what we’re doing on the field, we have to communicate with each other in person. We have to practice and I’m pretty sure the huddle’s not going to be six-feet spaced.

He listed some scenarios in which the mandates would prohibit the team from conducting a full days’ worth of work given the time restrictions set into place by the CBA for players and coaches being in contact on a daily bases and how it could be detrimental to their goal of building a cohesive unit and get on the same page before the season rolls around.

“Are guys going to shower one at a time all day? Are guys going to lift weights one at a time all day? These are things the league and the [NFLPA] needs to get a handle on and needs to get agreed with some common sense so we can operate in the 13-hour day in training camp that they’re giving us and get our work done. That’s the one thing, you can tell by my voice, I’m a little frustrated with what I’m hearing there. And I think they need to get that pinned down a little better.”

Training camp isn’t slated to get underway until late July but the league has been exploring the option of allowing the teams to reconvene a few weeks earlier in med-July to allow the player more time to get physically acclimated working out in a team environment and get into better football shape. That still leaves time for revisions to be made to the current COVID mandate and how teams can best preserve the health and safety of their players, coaches, and other employees while preparing for the rigors of the upcoming season.

“Now maybe we’ll know more in two months and they’ll be able to be a little more realistic and practical in what they’re asking,” Harbaugh said. “I expect that to be the case. I think good people, smart people, are involved in this. But the way I’m reading these memos right now, you throw your hands up and you go, ‘Well, what the heck? There’s no way we can be right.'”

Harbaugh made a guarantee that his team will do “as good or better” than the other 31 teams around the league when it comes to abiding by the NFL’s guidelines, but he wants assurance that the league is holding the other organizations equally accountably to the new rules.

“As a coach, you don’t want to hear that you’re limiting your operations as far as preparing your team and then you hear that 10 other teams aren’t paying attention to the rules and then there’s no consequence for that,” Harbaugh said. “And then they have an advantage on you. That’s what I don’t want to see. So I just think it needs to be fair and it needs to be reasonable. And I do believe that they’ll find a way to do that.”

Social distancing in a sport that requires constant collisions on the field and constant communication off of is “humanly impossible” for a team that has championship aspirations and is primed to achieve their ultimate goal like the Ravens are heading into the 2020 season. Harbaugh brought up many valid points that the presiding powers should take into consideration moving forward. I just hope his wise and insightful words aren’t falling on deaf ears.