The league has had to take unprecedented action in order to prepare for the 2020 NFL season amid the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It appears Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians may even opt to take it a step further.
Arians acknowledged the prospect of keeping a third quarterback away from the facility in the event that the first two are forced to quarantine on Chris Long's Green Light podcast (via Kevin Patra at NFL.com):
“Yeah, that's one of the things I've been pondering the last two or three weeks, as we set the protocols … From what I'm understanding is if you test positive, you get quarantined for two weeks. Now, if you have no symptoms, I don't know what that means — is it a false [positive]? Is it … There is so much to learn and still explore with this thing. But I've thought about keeping the third quarterback on the roster out of the room. We have two guys that have been in our system [Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin], really sharp. So, I might have to quarantine a quarterback just in case of a quarantine.”
This is certainly an intriguing alternative option from Arians. There is no question that the quarterback position is arguably the most important in all of sports and any team without some stability under center could find themselves at a major disadvantage.
The Buccaneers have generated plenty of hope with the arrival of quarterback Tom Brady this offseason. Of course, one of the few factors that could derail a potential Super Bowl run is for them to be forced to deal with any unforeseen circumstances at the quarterback position. As a result, backups Gabbert and Griffin could be battling it out for the right to stay around the team.
The NFL has clearly put an emphasis on player and staff safety leading up to the 2020 campaign. Regardless, it is imperative that the league establishes proper health protocols in the event that that a player tests positive for COVID-19. And if it doesn't, it may be up to teams to figure out which precautions work for them.
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