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LA Rams head coach Sean McVay is no doubt pleasantly surprised by the latest NFL news.
The NFL and NFLPA agreed to a coronavirus testing program on Monday that will begin with daily tests for players. This is a major step toward getting players to training camp on time — and ultimately getting the 2020 season started on time.
There's an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA to conduct daily COVID-19 testing, per source with knowledge of situation. The players had pushed very hard for it.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 20, 2020
The NFL and NFLPA agreed to daily COVID-19 testing for the first 2 weeks of camp, after which they’ll look at positivity rates. If the rate drops below 5% for players and Tier 1/Tier 2 individuals, they’ll move to every other day. Important deal as talks continue on other issues.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 20, 2020
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the development is making people around the NFL optimistic about an on-schedule start for camp. The plan is for training camp to start July 28, and the NFL regular season starts Sept. 10. The Rams open at home at the new SoFi Stadium on Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.
Text just now from a league source: “Getting closer on most if not all issues.” https://t.co/zVggc2mHdu
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 20, 2020
Earlier on Monday, McVay appeared on a podcast with Dan Hellie and expressed pessimism about camp starting on time.
“Something about it tells me that maybe there’s a chance that things get moved back,” McVay. “We’re gonna have a great plan. Whether we get a chance to execute that plan now or a little bit later remains to be seen. But I am confident we’ll have a season. We’ll be able to play football. Whether or not it goes exactly on the schedule that we’ve all seen, that’s something I’m a little skeptical of right now.”
This is all a reminder of how fluid a situation this is. For now, things may be trending upward.