John Mara New York Giants
(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York Giants organization has begun slowly reopening the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.

Back in March, the New York Giants indefinitely closed down the Quest Diagnostics Training Center amid the COVID-19 outbreak. At the time, much was unclear in regards to when Big Blue would be able to return to work in an in-person setting.

The Giants have since had to conduct operations — including the NFL Draft and offseason workouts — via a virtual platform. But on Wednesday, things took a turn for the better.

The organization began the slow reopening of its East Rutherford, NJ training facility. Only around 15-20 employees returned to work, including general manager Dave Gettleman along with members of his football administration staff. Individuals from the business, operations, and medical teams additionally returned, as well as co-owner John Mara. Coaches haven’t come back to the facility just yet.

Last month, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy gave in-state professional sports teams the “thumbs up” to begin training if their respective leagues permitted them to do so.

“We have been working diligently over the last couple months to prepare for coming back to the facility, the Quest Diagnostics Training Center,” said senior VP of medical services and head athletic trainer Ronnie Barnes, per Dan Salomone of the team’s official website. “The primary focus has been to return our employees safely. And so everything that we have been doing has been related to the safety of our employees and how we can get back to work as safely as possible.

“We’re all happy to be back. We’ve been waiting for a long time. The Giants’ COVID-19 Task Force has been working hard to make this facility as safe as possible. We’ve made a lot of changes; those are all for [employees’] safety and they’re very important. We are following the CDC guidelines, the guidelines from the NFL, and guidelines from the National Institute of Health, as well as the state’s protocols.”

Right now, team’s are still undergoing the league’s virtual offseason program. The next time players hit the field together could be training camp, which is slated to commence late July.

Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.