The NFL and its players still have plenty to iron out before getting back to work. Until that happens, it sounds like there will be no set date for when they report to training camp.
The plan has been for teams to open training camps as scheduled on July 28. That's what league executive vice president Jeff Pash said on a conference call earlier this month after the NFL held a virtual meeting with owners.
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But players have not yet been given an official report date, according to Devin and Jason McCourty. They said on their "Double Coverage" podcast, which airs live on Fancred, that they did not yet know when they'd be required to show up for Patriots training camp.
"We do not," Devin McCourty said. "We have not got any letters for report dates. Just to give you an understanding of that, usually when we leave the facility from mandatory minicamp . . . we'd already have gotten a letter with what date we have to come back. It just goes to show everything going on and the communication between the PA and the NFL and trying to get everything to work out. I think that's what's kind of been the hold up of having a report date."
Players have been working out on their own and in groups in preparation of camps opening up in the near future, but there is plenty still to be determined before we have an idea of how football will look in 2020, which the McCourty twins noted in a Monday Morning Quarterback piece published the morning after their podcast aired.
"Will we have an option to opt out of the season? Will we be making our full salary? What if there is a COVID outbreak within the league?" they wrote. "It's so hard to make a decision of whether we will play or not without knowing what the exact plan is . . .
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"Will we be able to have meetings in the building? Or will the meetings still be done virtually? Will testing be a few times a week or will it be every day? As players, how do we decide what is best for us and our families when we don’t know what we’re walking into?"
Not only "what" but "when," too.