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The NFL has not yet said anything specific about how off-season programs will unfold this year, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said before the Super Bowl that ‘virtual will be a part of our lives’ or personal work again this year return.
Some on the player side want everything to be virtual. Browns center and president of the NFL Players Association, JC Tretter, believes “there is no reason for us to ever return to the previous off-season program.” Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians shared his views on why Tretter and other established players feel this way while advocating a return to the pre-pandemic way of doing things.
‘If we lose spring, [young players] is is not being developed. The veterans love it because it means they do not have to take their jobs, ”said Arians via Greg Auman of TheAthletic.com. ‘So if the veterans vote on the rules. . . . these young children need exercise. If the vets do not want to come, they do not have to come. It is still voluntary. We need the preseason, we definitely need some preseason games. ”
Tretter and other players also talked about feeling healthier after an off-season without working on the field, but Arians said he would ‘fight what they say about the injuries’ because players had more problems early in the camp. has than he saw before. seasons.
Other veteran players have shared their views on the benefits of OTAs and other off-season work, but it remains to be seen what things will look like in the 2021 season.