COVID-19 has shut down the country but Football is just a few months away, and least that’s what the New York Jets preseason schedule says.
On Friday, the New York Jets announced the dates and times for the four games on their 2020 preseason schedule. The NFL released the full schedule last week, but only had tentative dates for the preseason.
The league is still moving forward under the assumption that the 2020 season will happen despite COVID-19 concerns.
Preseason dates and times finalized ??
— New York Jets (@nyjets) May 15, 2020
For a second consecutive year, the Jets and New York Giants will play on Week 1 of the preseason. They did that in 2019, but it made sense then. The Jets and Giants were going to play each other in the regular season, so it made sense to avoid playing in the third preseason game. They don’t play each other in 2020, so it’s surprising to see the Snoopy Bowl being played so early.
The 2020 preseason may be the most active one in some time. With COVID-19 keeping teams from having any offseason workouts, they may need more game time to prepare for the season. Without it, players may not be fully prepared for opening week.
That goes against everything that NFL teams have been doing the past few seasons. The current trend is to lessen playing time for starters as much as possible. That limits preseason injuries and gets fringe roster players more time on the field.
The issue is that players are already rusty in Week 1 of the season. They are routinely some of the worst played games of the entire season for many teams. That would only be made worse if teams refused to play starters in the preseason this year.
This will undoubtedly lead to more injuries. With players taking fewer reps throughout the offseason they won’t be as physically prepared for preseason as previous years. That will leave players more vulnerable to injuries than in years passed.
The Jets are going to have a huge dilemma. Should they prepare the players for the season, or should they keep them healthy and risk being unprepared?
