Intensive protocol environment against covid-19 to become the norm for NFL, Steelers

At the end of their third week adhering to the NFL’s intensive protocol guidelines, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be getting some company.

Make that plenty of company.

The league announced Wednesday that, beginning Saturday, all 32 teams will be placed into intensive protocol because of the surge in coronavirus cases nationwide. The mandate will stay in play through the end of the season.

Previously, teams only entered intensive protocol if a team or staff member tested positive for covid-19 or a recent opponent had a player test positive.

Under terms of the intensive protocol, all individual and team meetings must be conducted virtually unless they can be held outdoors in indoors under a preapproved plan. Masks must be worn on the practice field, locker room use will be limited and players are prohibited from gathering away from the team facility.

In a memo sent to the 32 teams, commissioner Roger Goodell said the order was put into place with Thanksgiving in mind, nothing holiday gatherings would increase players’ exposure to the virus. The Steelers, however, have a game at home against the Baltimore Ravens that night.

The Steelers entered intensive protocol Nov. 2, the day after their game at M&T Bank Stadium when Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey tested positive for covid-19. Since then, the Steelers have placed six players on the reserve/covid-19 list, with only tight end Vance McDonald and rookie guard Kevin Dotson missing a game. McDonald and Dotson remain on the list this week, and assistant offensive line coach Adrian Klemm missed the game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In addition, coach Mike Tomlin was fined $100,000 for not wearing his face covering for parts of the game against the Ravens. The organization also was fined $250,000.

This week, the Steelers travel to Jacksonville for their fourth road game in the past five weeks. It will be the third visit to a state that is on Pennsylvania’s travel restriction list. Tennessee and Texas were the others.

“No added concern for me,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “I just have a great deal of belief in not only of the best practices outlined by the NFL offices, but our application of and the commitment that our organization has in terms of adhering to it and working to keep guys as safe as we can. It’s just business as usual in terms of 2020 business.”

The Steelers had their Week 4 game at Tennessee pushed back because of a coronavirus outbreak in the Titans locker room, but aside from spending November in intensive protocol, they haven’t encountered any other distractions because of the pandemic.

Defensive captain Cameron Heyward doesn’t expect the trip to Jacksonville to be any different for the Steelers, who are the only unbeaten team in the NFL.

“Precaution wise, we don’t really leave the hotel,” Heyward said. “I think we do a good job. The last hotspot place we went to (Dallas), we didn’t have any meetings in person. We’re always trying to take precautions and make sure we stay safe.

“If we know a team is dealing with something, we sprint off the field after the game because we don’t want to get anyone infected.”

In the latest round of covid-19 testing, the NFL reported 17 positive tests among players and 35 among team personnel out of 43,148 total tests administered. Since Aug. 1, 95 players and 175 staff/personnel members have shown positive results out of 645,000 tests.

A day after the Steelers improved to 9-0 with a 36-10 victory against Cincinnati, the team shut down the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex to have a “deep clean” done on the practice facility.

Despite the relatively easy win over the last-place Bengals, Tomlin said the Steelers must “do a better job” of working in a virtual environment.

“Better instructing, better listening, better use of the time, better understanding of the technology and the resources at our disposal in an effort to combat the challenges that are associated with it,” he said. “No question you lose a little bit when you’re not in the same physical space, when you don’t get the chance to look at the man’s eyes or feel the reactions to the information. We as a staff are working extremely hard to avail ourselves of all the options in that regard in an effort to be our best.”