NASHVILLE, Tenn. – While city and league rules allow the Titans to begin to reopen their facility on Tuesday, the franchise is more likely to wait to do so until after Memorial Day.
My understanding is that a delay of at least a week will give the franchise additional time to sort out a plan that would include some staff members returning to the team’s MetroCenter headquarters.
Roger Goodell told teams in a recent memo published by multiple outlets that if their cities and states allowed it, they could return 50 percent of their people to their headquarters up to 75 people, but excluding coaches and players.
That includes people at any team buildings, so St. Thomas Sports Park and Nissan Stadium workers would be combined in the count. [Unlocked.]
Coaches are not allowed back as the NFL wants to keep a level playing field not allowing any of them to return until all of them can.
That can certainly be adjusted in time to teams having a plan for staffs to assemble at an alternate location if their states don’t allow returns to work while others reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Mike Tomlin and Mike Vrabel have offered outspoken support for that element of the reopening plan.
“I don’t think it would be right for anybody to go in when some other teams couldn’t,” Vrabel said last week. “There’s things that make the NFL unbelievably competitive and the most popular sport, is that it is competitive. There is a draft, there is a salary cap, there’s rules that we operate under.
“I would assume that it’s only right that if a handful of teams can’t go in, then we shouldn’t either. We would be gaining an advantage on those teams that couldn’t go. We’ll keep doing this business as business is being done.
Strength coaches are exempted if they’ve been at team facilities working with rehabilitating players who are also exempted. Per Vrabel, we know Titans strength and conditioning coach Frank Piraino has been doing so with Jefferey Simmons and others.
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