NFL commissioner Roger Goodell downplays talk of 'playoff bubble'
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: "Health decisions will take precedence over competitive and business interests. We follow the facts. We follow the science and the recommendations of our medical experts are first and foremost, the bedrock of our scheduling decisions"
Thursday 3 December 2020 13:23, UK
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is weighing up new safety protocols for the postseason but rejected the idea of playing in a 'bubble', amid a surge of coronavirus cases across the United States.
Numerous NFL games have been delayed due to players testing positive, including most recently the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers clash that was originally scheduled for Thanksgiving Thursday before being postponed three times to the following Wednesday.
Speaking ahead of that rearranged matchup, Goodell told reporters: "We're continuing to evaluate the types of changes we may want to make coming into the postseason.
"All of the options are on the table to make sure we do it safely, correctly and recognising the unique nature of the postseason versus the regular season."
- Steelers edge Ravens to stay unbeaten
- NFL analyst sorry for comment on female Steelers fans
- Gosper leaves World Rugby for NFL role
But Goodell rejected the idea of using a 'bubble' environment for the postseason, as has been seen in basketball with the NBA and also adopted in ice hockey with the NHL.
"We don't see the bubble as I think most of you refer to it as, where we're all in one location and we're isolating," Goodell said.
"We may look at different ways to reduce the risk for our personnel whether they're players, coaches or other personnel that would limit exposure to others."
Goodell added that the NFL is committed to finishing up the season as scheduled and will follow the science while sticking to the implemented protocols.
"Let me be crystal clear: Health decisions will take precedence over competitive and business interests," he said. "We follow the facts. We follow the science and the recommendations of our medical experts are first and foremost, the bedrock of our scheduling decisions."
Finishing the campaign is something Goodell is confident can be done and can be done with the players' safety in mind, something he reiterated in an interview that aired at half-time of the Ravens-Steelers game.
"We do think it's safe to continue," Goodell added. "Listen, there's challenges. We're seeing virus spread and increase in our communities and so that's a challenge for us. But we believe that the protocols that we've established are working.
"We're gonna continue to evaluate and see what improvements we can continue to make as we did just last week. And we'll do that. Obviously, our objective is to finish 256 games safely."
In total, 156 players and 270 personnel have had confirmed Covid-19 cases since the start of the league's monitoring testing period from August 1 through November 28, according to data provided on Wednesday, with more than 700,000 tests being administered.
