New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said players traveling to the state would not need to quarantine before camp.
Murphy said on SiriusXM NFL Radio Friday that New Jersey's quarantine rule -- which requires individuals traveling from certain states that are seeing high COVID-19 figures to isolate for 14 days -- has a "carve-out for essential travel," per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.
According to Murphy, pro sports teams would qualify for that carve-out. Both the New York Giants (East Rutherford) and Jets (Florham Park) work out of New Jersey, where MetLife Stadium resides.
The news means Jets and Giants players and staffs traveling from hot-spot areas for training camp later this month -- scheduled for July 28 -- will not have to quarantine.
"We'd probably, without having put this in stone, I'm sure we'd probably want to do one, and more than one, test for the virus when they got here," Murphy said. "Or ask them to take it as they're leaving wherever their host state is. That's the minimum standard. ... We -- along with New York and Connecticut -- have asked folks if they're coming from a hotspot state to self-quarantine for 14 days and get tested. A 14-day quarantine doesn't work in an NFL schedule. So, at least the testing piece would have to be there, and I think if anyone is symptomatic or they've tested positive already, I'd hope they wouldn't get on the plane."
The same "carve-out" applies to players traveling to New York and Connecticut, like members of the Buffalo Bills, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport confirmed with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
Murphy also said that the NFL and state government would decide "together" on whether teams will play with no fans or at a significantly reduced capacity.
"That'd be all of us," he said, per Leonard. "We'd need to be involved because this is a public health matter, so we couldn't put people in close contact with each other unless we thought that was a reasonable step to take. That's the big nut that we still have yet to crack, I would say. Whether they go the European soccer route where they're playing games with no fans or whether or not there's some amount of fans they can have in there, that's a decision we have to make together."
The NFL and NFLPA have already agreed that fans will not be allowed at training camp, but teams can have up to two fan events at stadiums this preseason with strict protocols, if local authorities allow, Rapoport reported.
Rapoport also added that if fans are allowed at games, mask coverings will be required.
Most of the training camp and preseason protocols have been established, but the actual training camp schedules and preseason game schedules have yet to be set. Economic considerations are also not yet finalized, Rapoport reported.
