Richard Sherman isn't one to mince his words. He already has echoed NFL coaches' skepticism of the league's return-to-play plan, and blasted its coronavirus protocols.
With NFL training camps opening up as scheduled, the 49ers' star cornerback can't imagine football coming to a halt despite the coronavirus pandemic very much still being real.
"I'm fatigued talking about it, because I don't know," Sherman said Monday on Pro Football Focus' Instagram Live. "I don't know what you can do. I think everybody is gonna do their best to be safe and adhere to the protocols the best they can and try to play.
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"I don't see the league stopping if 15 people get it, if 50 people get it. I see them saying, 'Hey, remove those people, replace them with new people and continue the game. If half the team gets it, forfeit the game, next game keep moving forward.'
"I think that's the way I see them finishing."
San Francisco 49ers
Due to multiple health concerns, a number of players already have opted out of the 2020 NFL season. That number is sure to grow, too, especially if there is an outbreak.
The Miami Marlins already have seen half their team come down with the coronavirus the last few days. And the NFL, like MLB, will not be in a bubble environment, which has worked well for the NBA, WNBA, NSWL and other leagues.
[RELATED: 49ers' Sherman criticizes NFL's 'zone cornerback' narrative]
"There's no way to bubble football," Sherman said. "This isn't baseball and it's not basketball. These are 200 to 300-men operations minimum that travel. When a football team travels, there's five buses. There's not one bus or one small plane, there's a jumbo plane and five buses.
"And all those people are necessary."
The truth is, none of this sounds promising. As Sherman said, it fatigues us all and we can only hope those at the top put their best foot forward.
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