Anonymous Head Coaches Question NFL's Decision Not to Delay Season Amid COVID-19

While the NFL plans to move forward with the 2020 campaign as scheduled, a number of head coaches reportedly believe the league should delay the start of the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Appearing on ESPN's Get Up, Ed Werder noted he's spoken to six different head coaches and at least three raised concerns about going ahead with the season right now:

"I interacted with approximately six NFL head coaches and one of them said without equivocation that the start of the season needs to be pushed back. He said, you know, 'How in the world are you going to bring 90 players into training camp a month from now?' He said: 'You can have all of the protocols in place that you want, but eventually you have to play football, and what are you going to do if 10 guys on one team test positive? Are you going to quarantine the entire team?' And he finished with, 'How important is money in all of this?'

"And then another head coach said, you know, he listed hypothetical situations. 'What if your entire quarterback room tests positive? What if your entire defensive coaching staff tests positive? What are you going to do then?' And he just questioned the overall wisdom of playing during a pandemic.

"A third head coach said: 'Hey, we just don't know enough. We don't have answers to the questions that we have, like, is it right to be back? Should we be doing this at all?' And he said we need to gather more information. He said, 'Hey, maybe these open-air protests will provide some of the information we need about how this disease is transmitted among large groups of people in open-air situations.' And ultimately he said something really ominous and on point to the NFL's plans to proceed as scheduled with the regular-season and training camp schedule. He said, 'Hey, we're seeing a lot of pushback from Major League Baseball and NBA players.' He said, 'I wouldn't be surprised if we see the same thing eventually from our players.'"

Speaking Thursday on 105.7 The Fan (h/t ESPN's Jamison Hensley), Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called the NFL's current coronavirus guidelines "impossible" because of how much communication is necessary to play football.

When the NFL released its schedule in May, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the league gave itself flexibility in the event of a potential delay. It could move early-season games to after Week 17, push Super Bowl LV back from its currently scheduled Feb. 7 date and give every team the same bye as its Week 2 opponent.

NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash told reporters March 31 that the league's planning was "fully directed at playing a full season starting on schedule and having a full regular season and full set of playoffs."

Teams received permission from the NFL to reopen their facilities as soon as May 19, but NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported last week that virtual offseason workouts have been extended through July 26.

Training camps are scheduled to open for all 32 teams between July 22-30.

The NFL regular season is scheduled to begin Sept. 10 as the Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans.