The Los Angeles Rams are supposed to report for training camp this week, although that is now in question as the league continues to get proper health and safety protocols in place to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
While the league announced that they will be testing players and staff members every day, there still are some other issues that need to be sorted out.
Because of that, Rams head coach Sean McVay is skeptical that his team will be able to hit the field on July 28 as expected, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN:
“Usually when you get about a week out, and right now that’s exactly where we’re at, you start to get revved up, starting to get excited,” McVay said on the Helliepod. “And there’s something about this time that you know the amount of things that have to take place for that to logistically get off and get going, something about it tells me maybe there’s a chance that things get moved back.”
While it is not set in stone yet, here is the potential schedule of what the start of training camp can look like under the latest proposal, via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network:
What would training camp be like under the NFL’s latest ramp-up proposal?
— Testing & physicals for 5-6 days
— Strength & conditioning plus walk-throughs thru Day 12.
— Off Day 13
— Ramp up with helmets through Day 18
— Off Day 19
— On the 20th day, the pads go on.
So, different.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 21, 2020
That doesn’t leave the league and the Rams much time to get all of the logistics sorted out, putting the start date in question. While that is the case though, McVay is still confident a 2020 season will take place:
“What I’ve been telling our people is, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a great plan, whether we get a chance to execute that plan now or a little bit later remains to be seen,”’ McVay said. “But I am confident we will have a season, we’ll be able to play football. Whether or not it goes exactly on the schedule we’ve all seen, that’s something that I’m a little skeptical of right now.”
This offseason has been an unfortunate one for the Rams as they underwent a ton of changes to their roster and coaching staff, meaning they need a lot of time together to get all of their new schemes in place. They haven’t had that time and likely won’t in training camp either, making it difficult for them to prepare for the regular season.
McVay is known to be more prepared than anyone in the league though, so hopefully his leadership can help get the Rams back to the postseason in 2020.
