As NFL players pass COVID-19 tests and begin filtering into facilities, they'll be met with a new world.
League protocols requiring daily health checks and contact tracing monitors are coupled with a tiered system of entry and social distancing procedures.
Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn said Wednesday morning his binder full of memos from the league about COVID-19 return-to-work plans since May is "bigger than our playbook."
(Insert joke about the Lions playbook here.)
The look within facilities is much different as well.
The Lions gave a sneak-peek of their updated locker room replete with pane after pane of plexiglass buffering each locker.
That's a lot of plexiglass to clean each day.
The Lions aren't the only ones who have used separators to divide lockers. Others, like the Los Angeles Rams, spread out the lockers and are utilizing separate rooms to give players more space, as detailed in NFL Network's Steve Wyche's in-depth report at the Rams' revamped facility.
Meeting rooms have also been adjusted. Some clubs are using outdoor areas or team bubbles to space out seating. Others have had to move around position-group meeting rooms. Quinn, for example, said the Lions' normal quarterback room was unusable because it's too small to meet the social distancing criteria required by the protocol.
With veterans beginning the in-facility ramp-up portion of training camp this weekend after the first phase COVID testing is complete, they'll all be met with a new reality about what it's like to play football during a pandemic.
