As it was not very clear earlier, the first episode of ‘Hard Knocks’ on Tuesday night did the job.
This NFL season will be very, very different.
Not even five minutes into the season premiere of the annual HBO show – which sanctioned both the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers this fall – players were seen asking question after question about a Zoom call with Chargers coach Anthony Lynn. They wondered how the season works amid the COVID-19 pandemic that hangs over the season.
‘Be patient man. Be patient, ”Lynn responded. “Fellas, this year is not like a year we have had in the national football league. There will be chaos. There will be change. It will come every day. ”
Anthony Lynn is the third coach in the NFL to reveal that he contracted the coronavirus. (Michael Hickey / Getty Images)
Lynn tells team he tested positive for the coronavirus
Lynn then shocked his team.
He had positive tests for the coronavirus.
‘I can not promise you that you will not be infected. I’m infected, ‘he said, clearly clapping some of his players.
He is at least the third coach in the league to contract the virus, along with New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson. It is not exactly clear when Lynn contracted the virus, although he had recovered before camp began.
Lynn said one night that he started coughing a little and hurting his body. That night he struggled to get ‘comfortable’ in his bed.
Lynn said he woke up the next day and started watching a golf tournament and saw that a player on the PGA Tour had been withdrawn because his body started to tingle and later tested positive.
“I said, ‘S —, my body feels just like that,’ ‘he said. have and never even knew it and, s —, probably would have infected people. ”
Coronavirus protocols everywhere
There were many coronavirus protocols in place at training camps. Players were seen undergoing tests and undergoing temperature checks and health issues upon arrival at team facilities. Drinkfridges had footsteps on them to eliminate the need to recommend doors instead, and team meetings looked very unusual with players scattered across a massive room.
Players, coaches and staff members were also seen putting on and taking off the masks throughout the episode.
Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn’t move the ball around with his usual grace.
Kneeling during the national anthem
The episode later highlighted a Zoom call between Lynn and some of the Chargers who were talking about both kneeling during the national anthem in protest and major social movements in the country.
Lynn said he wanted to address the issue immediately in an attempt to eliminate any distraction later.
“There are currently some things happening in our country that we cannot ignore,” Lynn said. “There are some things that sometimes challenge the big three, and that is God, family and football.
‘I will not tell you,’ Let’s sweep this under the rug, and we’ll go around these s when the season is over. ‘I’ll tell you no, we can’t do that now. ”
The segment then featured Chargers players talking about how they feel about national anthem protests. Chargers long snapper Cole Mazza began by saying he has family in the army who kneel “super against” during the national anthem.
“There’s something I’m in between,” Mazza said. ‘I feel there is definitely another way to protest. Like I said, I’m all for it, I just do not know how much I agree with it. ”
While several players have already been busy kneeling during the national anthem this fall, it probably won’t be a universal thing – and everyone featured in the interviews featured on “Hard Knocks” understood that and respected that.
“Cole, the bottom line is, in terms of protest, we all protest differently,” Chargers coordinator George Stewart said. ‘It’s like we all have different things we eat. You protest in your own way. Just because your teammates are kneeling and you decide to stand up does not mean you are not with your teammates. “
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