Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said he will train on the field in the 2020 season and will wear a mask and mask due to the threat of the coronavirus.
Arians is 67 years old and has survived multiple episodes of cancer, putting him at a higher risk group compared to other coaches and players in the league.
“There’s no chance of me training from a box,” said Arians, known for being fired in the field and even yelling at officials to the point of spitting. “Once we get a shield that I like, I will put on the mask and shield and I won’t be able to spit them out anyway.”
Arians said he not only trusts the league’s safety protocols, but is “very confident” that the NFL can achieve a full 16-game season.
“I am very confident. I think the protocols in place are extremely safe and they will be smart coaches, players, and staff outside the building. No one will get sick here because everyone has a negative proof that it is in the building, so you’re going to get sick somewhere else. We have to have a lot of discipline this year, and I am very confident that we will. “
Arians also said he believes that despite there being no offseason program, new quarterback Tom Brady is at the forefront in terms of learning the offense, though he would have liked to see Brady get live replays in the offseason. . He believes that Brady’s experience will make up for it, although he believes that overall league play will suffer without the offseason.
“I think he is way ahead of the curve,” Arians said of Brady. “He’s a very brilliant guy. The terminology was the most important thing. As we get together starting tomorrow, we’ll start collaborating more. So I think he’s in a great place when it comes to that.”
“All the guys who have been working with him see his intensity level even in that kind of training and they only know that they will intensify when we really go out. It was great. They would have hoped we would have had spring practice so everyone [the players] I could get over the ‘amazement’, especially the young players, of Tom Brady coming into the locker room and Gronk, but I think we will get over it in a week and maybe every boy will have enough balls to talk to him (laughs). “
Was there any doubt that Arians would train this season, considering that he already retired once, after 2018, and that Brady played a role on his return despite a global pandemic?
“There was never any doubt that he was going to train,” he said. “Especially once I saw the protocols and everything in place. Whether it’s Tom or whoever the quarterback is, I will get excited, I really like our ball club. He touches wood, we can stay healthy this year.” and do the things we want to do, make the playoffs. Having Tom adds to the excitement, obviously, but it would have been everything anyway. “
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