Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers looks on from the sidelines against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of the NFC Championship game at Levi's Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Santa Clara, California.
First-round quarterback Jordan Love and the rest of the Green Bay Packers‘ rookies will apparently have to wait a bit longer before starting their first NFL training camp.
According to Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee, the Packers will no longer have their rookie report to Lambeau Field on Tuesday as league owners and player leaders continue to negotiate a suitable health and safety plan in regards to COVID-19 for the 2020 season. The initial plan was for rookies to report to camp on July 21 with veterans scheduled to follow on July 28.
The Packers had previously announced last week they would not be allowing fans to attend training camp practices or preseason games, including the annual Packers Family Night — which will instead be televised statewide to incorporate fans in some capacity.
“The tremendous support of cheering fans at Lambeau Field motivates all of us in the Packers organization,” Murphy said in a news release on Packers.com. “But after consulting with local health officials and reviewing League and CDC guidelines, we felt we needed to make this difficult decision. We will miss seeing so many of our fans, particularly the young ones, during this exciting time of year. We will continue to work on the protocols and logistics in the hope that we can welcome fans back to Lambeau Field for the regular season without jeopardizing the health of our players, team personnel and fans.
“We ask our fans to help us in this effort by wearing masks and staying six feet away from non-family members when out in the community in the coming weeks.”
The Packers have signed eight of their nine draft picks from the 2020 class — third-round tight end Josiah Deguara is still unsigned — and are expecting as many as 24 rookies to join them in this year’s training camp with more than a dozen undrafted free agent signings.
The Packers have not officially confirmed the adjustment to their training camp schedule.
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Camp Delays Could Become Trend in Coming Week
The Packers have been ahead of the curve on adjusting their plans for the 2020 season, becoming one of the first teams to institute fan-ban for the upcoming preseason and providing regular updates and information for season-ticket holders worried about the year ahead.
Considering ongoing discussions between NFL owners and NFLPA leaders have not yet culminated in an agreement for 2020, it wouldn’t be shocking to see other teams around the league follow the Packers’ lead and adjust their own training camp schedules. Many of them are still set for rookies to report in less than 24 hours with the full team present in about a week.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the NFL and owners are scheduled to hold a league meeting at 2 p.m. ET Monday that will attempt to “finalize health and safety measures, financial arrangements and reducing or eliminating preseason games, per league sources.”
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