Houston Texans: NFLPA top doctor’s guidance in best interest of players

The Houston Texans will be starting their season in a few months and with training camp around the corner, the NFLPA’s top doctor has given guidance. Look.

The Houston Texans hopefully will be starting their season on time when that takes place within the next few months.  The NFL is still working out what the environment will look like when the season kicks off and I’d presumably have to assume it will be without fans.

We can expect the most stringent of restrictions in terms of the interest of public health with players, coaches and remaining staff following guidelines under the direction of top medical experts as well as recommendations made by the CDC.

It’ll be intriguing to see our guys in Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, Justin Reid, Brandin Cooks and Benardick McKinney — along with the rest of supporting cast — on how they thrive in this new environment out on the field when things do get started.

There will be rapid testing and there will a plan to isolate players that test positive for the coronavirus without having any interruption to the ongoing season.  This is a challenge that this league has never faced before because the last time there was a global pandemic, the NFL did not exist, appearing like a glorified game of rugby with gridlines back in the early days.

But the NFL is doing it and I suspect we’ll be knowing what those details are once they’re hashed out.  The NBA and MLS have already had their plans approved and are moving forward starting up their respective leagues next month.

They will be heavily under the microscope as outside of the KBO as well as the Bundesliga Soccer League, they will be the first major relaunch of a sporting league since the start of this awful pandemic.

So while the world watches those leagues, it does buy the NFL time to has out their plans to keep players safe and the NFLPA’s top doctor, Thom Mayer, has issued guidance for its hundreds of members:

Ezekiel Elliott, as well as members of the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans, tested positive for

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COVID-19 and experts think that the likely cause of it was players holding private workouts as a group.

This has resulted in community spread with players testing positive so some guidance was needed in order to keep them as healthy as possible.

Mayer does confirm that this is a process that the NFL is working through and they it’s best they practice on their own until advised otherwise.  Although team facilities are open, players are still unable to access team facilities unless they’re receiving treatment for injury.

So that’s that — I know it’s tough for the players, who thrive on movement and make a damn good living being congregated around crowds on the field an in packed stadiums but it’s something that they must do in order for their season to be saved.  They must all do their part.

My best guess as this news is minimized because now the importance is more than ever to take this nasty virus seriously.

Let’s hope for the best — go Houston Texans.