Toddy Gurley Accuses NFL of Having No COVID-19 Plan for Next Season

Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley has called out the NFL for lacking an adequate plan to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, suggesting far better measures were required to ensure the safety of the players this season.

The NFL remains intent on starting the season as scheduled on September 10, while most teams are expected to open training camps at the beginning of next week—the Houston Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs are set to report on Sunday.

Earlier this week the league and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) reached an agreement over safety protocols, which would include daily COVID-19 testing over the first two weeks of training camp.

The protocols also stipulate that players will need multiple negative tests before being allowed on team facilities for physicals and team activities. They will be tested on the first and fourth day of training camp, with two days of "remote education" in between, before being allowed to enter the facility on day five, which is when players will begin to undergo daily testing.

Gurley, however, isn't convinced by the measures and feels the protocols were put together slapdash.

"It's really not structured right," he said during an appearance on Tiki and Tierney on CBS Sports Network on Thursday evening.

"There's not a plan in place that I'm comfortable with. I just feel like we need to come up with something a lot better than what they gave us. Everything they gave us is pretty last-minute. We should have had this done months ago."

A memo released by the league outlined how the NFL plans to split players, coaches and football personnel in two categories for testing purposes.

Tier 1 will include coaches, players, trainers, physicians and other personnel, while general managers, team presidents and football operations employees will be included in Tier 2.

The NFL has indicated that if the positivity rate falls below five percent for players and individuals in both categories, it will shift the testing from daily to every two days.

The proposals, however, are yet to be formally ratified and ESPN reported the NFL and the NFLPA will hold a conference call on Friday to finalize rules for the acclimation period, as well as procedures that could allow players to opt out of the season for reasons related to the COVID-19 outbreak and the contractual implications for those who choose to do so.

Meanwhile, NFL Network and The Washington Post both reported that the NFL could face a difficult dilemma should an agreement not be in place by Sunday night.

The latter suggested the league could even consider a "total shutdown" of training camp, should an agreement not be forthcoming.

Gurley, who signed a one-year deal with the Falcons after being surprisedly cut by the Los Angeles Rams in April, warned the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the negotiations didn't bode well for hopes of having a full season.

"You have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have half a season," he added.

"If they don't do things right, we won't have a full season. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don't see how. Things just don't sit right right now."

On Wednesday, Tom Brady said there were more "questions than answers" around the negotiations between the NFL and the NFLPA.

"There are more questions than answers, but we must have faith in our @NFLPA leaders, both players and staff, to get the game and the business of football in the right place," the six-time Super Bowl champion said on Twitter.

"Let's stay unified & demand necessary answers from the @NFL as partners. We're all in this together."

Meanwhile, earlier this week the NFL announced that should fans be allowed in the stadium this season, they will be required to wear a mask. A number of teams, including the Falcons, are cautiously optimistic they will be able to operate at reduced capacity.

However, both the New York Giants and the New York Jets this announced a ban on fans at MetLife Stadium until 2021.

As of Friday morning almost 4.04 million cases of coronavirus had been reported in the U.S., by far the highest tally of any country in the world.

Of the over 633,600 deaths recorded worldwide so far, more than 144,300 have been in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University, which has been tracking the outbreak using combined data sources.

There have been over 15.5 million confirmed cases globally since the outbreak of coronavirus was first identified in Wuhan, a city located in China's central Hubei province, late last year.