Getty Eagles QB Carson Wentz is coming off a record-setting season in Philadelphia.
The Eagles are supposed to report to training camp in one week. That timeline may be optimistic as players have expressed frustration over the NFL’s safety guidelines.
Marquee superstars from across the league, everyone from J.J. Watt to Drew Brees, have taken to social media in an effort to put pressure on the powers to be to demand better protocols for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Locally, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz and tight end Zach Ertz have led the chorus by asking the NFL to “step up and do their part.” The Eagles are scheduled to begin reporting on July 28.
Wentz wrote: “We all want to play this season, but we need to stay safe in order to actually have a season! It’s time for the @NFL to step up and do their part so that us players can be safe at work and go play the game we love!” #WeWantToPlay
We all want to play this season, but we need to stay safe in order to actually have a season! It’s time for the @NFL to step up and do their part so that us players can be safe at work and go play the game we love! #WeWantToPlay
Ertz posted the following message, along with a list of stated demands. He said that players still don’t have answers to easy questions, like how often testing will happen and what happens if a player opts out in the middle of the season to protect their family members.
Ertz wrote: “Playing football and feeling safe at work SHOULD NOT be mutually exclusive! Time is running down and we need answers.” #WeWantToPlay
Playing football and feeling safe at work SHOULD NOT be mutually exclusive! Time is running down and we need answers #WeWantToPlay
Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson shared the same memo that Ertz posted while adding his own call to action. Jackson reiterated that he wants to play football in 2020.
Jackson wrote: “It’s crazy to hear the NFL has yet to address major health and safety issues with training camp being 2 weeks away. We want to play football. Make it happen @NFL. Keep us safe!”
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Chiefs, Texans First Teams to Report for Camp
The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans are the first two teams slated to open training camp in 2020. Both teams are supposed to report on July 20 despite outstanding safety issues being worked out between the NFL and the NFLPA. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Chiefs are telling players to report.
The two sides are still figuring out the best way to ensure safety for all 32 teams, their entire rosters, and how to protect their families when they aren’t on the football field.
“Our priority is always going to be the health and safety of the players. Usually when you say that, it is things that will happen on the field,” said NFLPA president J.C. Tretter, via CBS Sports. “Obviously, that takes a new meaning with everything going on now where you talk about the health and safety of the players is you are talking about their own personal health.
”That is always going to be the top priority for us. There is probably not one, two or five things. There is a long list of hurdles we have to get over and things we have to watch and check. We just continually seek out information to be informed.”
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Carson Wentz, Eagles Stars Challenge NFL on COVID-19 Guidelines