NFL training camps opening with eye on baseball, babysitting

Brady and Brees aren't the B words dominating the opening of NFL training camps.

Try baseball and babysitting.

As veterans report Tuesday for COVID-19 testing, with on-field work far on the horizon for now, eyeballs are focused on the pandemic issues in Major League Baseball. The coronavirus outbreak with the Miami Marlins, who won't be playing any games the rest of this week, is foremost in the football world.

“You know, for what’s going on in baseball right now, it affects everyone,” Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said. "I mean, because you look at the game the Marlins had and, you know, they affect the players on the other team and then the dugouts are then infected. There’s no good way of really going about it. And you’ve got to start canceling games.

"So it’s just a matter of what the league wants to do. And, if people start getting or contracting the virus within the NFL, it’ll be interesting to see how the NFL wants to handle it.”

Titans coach Mike Vrabel said he is not using the word worried, but "obviously, (we're) always very concerned about the health and safety of our players and their family and the coaches and our staff in this building. But until we see how our protocols and our plan that the NFL and the players association worked so hard to put into place, till we see how those are going to function and work, we can’t make any changes. We have to to follow the plan."

Nobody knows if the plan will work, of course.

Falcons coach Dan Quinn said baseball players having positive tests led to the question of “How does travel affect that and the testing when you go on the road and when you don’t?”

Quinn said he was enjoying baseball’s return, “so I was disappointed to see the outbreak had affected games being played. So, it’s definitely something we all discuss for sure.”

What Broncos President Joe Ellis won't be discussing is keeping tabs of where his players go and what they do. At least not yet.

“We can’t control what happens when they go home. We’re not going to babysit them and spy on them or anything like that," he said. “They’re grownups. We’ll just ask them to conduct themselves appropriately to take care of themselves such as they’ll be taking care of the whole organization, their teammates specifically, and their coaches. And we’ve got some good guys on the team I think that can help get that message through to them.”

The biggest news from NFL teams Tuesday dealt with opt-outs. Any player who decides not to play this season will get a $150,000 stipend if it is a voluntary move, and $350,000 if it is for pre-existing medical reasons.

Opting out were several key members of the New England Patriots: linebacker Dont'a Hightower, a defensive leader; safety Patrick Chung; offensive tackle Marcus Cannon; running back Brandon Bolden; and fullback Dan Vitale, according to people familiar with the decisions who spoke on condition of anonymity because the moves have not been announced.

Defensive tackles Star Lotulelei of Buffalo and Kyle Peko of Denver, Eagles receiver Marquise Goodwin, Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Ravens kick returner De’Anthony Thomas also have opted out.

Image credits: AP