LA Rams News: COVID-19 challenges players and team

LA Rams News: COVID-19 poses ongoing challenges to both players and staff this season

The LA Rams are entering an NFL season unlike any other before in the history of the game.  COVID-19 threatens each and every player and coach this season.  That creates a very uncertain future for all rosters, and how to set up the depth chart will be more crucial than ever in the NFL.

The NFL and NFLPA have set up pandemic protocols, but the honus remain upon players to be as safe as possible to avoid contracting the disease. Unlike the Seahawks cornerback who was released for trying to sneak a girlfriend past security. One slip and the entire roster could be inadvertently exposed.

Backup plan for backups

It is also the front office’s responsibility to have back up plans in case star players test positive and cannot step onto the field. At the very least teams need to keep enough players healthy enough to manage a full season or else football will be canceled.

Imagine the Rams defense trying to play without Aaron Donald spearheading the defense for multiple games. After all, Donald is the epitome of an NFL player who respects his body to the max.  Alternatively, how dead in the water would the Seattle Seahawks offense be if Russell Wilson isn’t able to play, which eliminates his ability to make something-out-of-nothing. COVID-19 can be a double-edged sword, it can help a team defeat a divisional rival if their key players miss time.

24 by 7 vigilance

Players will need to be cautious off the field as well.  Each player on the team’s roster is more important than ever. GM’s will still need to have a solid contingency plan in case key players are longer available. The team that stays healthiest in the fall has a dramatic advantage over one that can barely field a team. That means players will need to be vigilant about their free time.

From what we saw in the first episode of HBO: Hard Knocks: LA, there was plenty of evidence of how teams are fighting to stay healthy. You can expect the other 30 NFL teams are at least doing as much as the LA Rams and LA Chargers.  Having said that,  the NFL season should happen with only a small number of cases going forward where players test positive.

Once one player contracts the disease in one organization; however, that team could spread it to the next team. In that worst-case scenario, the NFL season could be doomed. Right now, the nation needs football. With the lack of sports the past couple of months., America could use the greatest sport on earth, now more than ever, to take our minds off our troubles and distract us from an ever-changing and challenging world.