NFL Plans to Start Training Camp on Time, But Number of Preseason Games Still Undecided

Even though the NFL has canceled its scheduled Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, the league still aims to start training camps and regular season on time.

Here’s a tweet from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport:

And with each of the NFL’s 32 teams on the same four-game preseason schedule, Mike Garafolo tweets that most teams will have training camp scheduled to open on July 28. That puts everyone on a level playing field. However, Garafolo points out that preseason games are still something that is up for discussion. Or in other words, perhaps the NFL is angling to go forth with a slimmed preseason schedule, as was reported earlier in the month.

And yet, I still come back to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell telling reporters that the plan is for the league’s training camps to start on time.

Perhaps more important than that is that Goodell and the league is getting ready for games in stadiums with fans. It’s bold to put yourself in September and envision stadiums with fans (albeit at a fraction of normal capacity) when we’re only hours removed from the league canceling an exhibition game in August. But that’s where Goodell is now and it’s where he figures to be until something pushes him off that stance. Don’t get me wrong. Flexibility is good. And the NFL has shown to be flexible with how it conducted free agency, the Draft, virtual OTAs, and other offseason activities. But having a plan is better.

So maybe a more concrete plan will be shared in due time. But for now, I’m more curious as to how the NFL will go about ensuring that games at stadiums with fans will be safe enough to happen than I am that they will happen.

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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