The NFL scouting combine sent a memo to prospective players on Monday night, revising its policies and procedures for the upcoming pre-draft event in Indianapolis.
The memo, obtained by Adam Schefter, focuses on mask-wearing for both the players and medical personnel, as well as defining the event's secure areas, keys points of contention among players' agents.
As has been the case throughout the Pandemic, we continue to evolve our combine policies and procedures in consultation with medical experts.
All players are encouraged to stay within the secure combine areas for their safety. If you would like to leave the secure areas during free time in your schedule, you are free to do so.
The potential of player boycotts made news Monday morning. Sources told Dan that a group of player agents was threatening to organize a boycott of certain key elements of the combine if their concerns about a COVID-19 bubble were not addressed.
Not all agents were in that group.
They want to take their trainers with them to the combine, and they might want access to their agent. They may have family members. And they may have an entire support group for their physical and emotional health -- and the NFL regulations seem overly restrictive, according to agent Leigh Steinberg. You have players who have worked their whole lives to prepare for the draft.
A bubble that would keep prospects from interacting with their personal trainers, doctors, and agents while in Indianapolis was included in a memo sent by the league to draft prospects and their agents. The players and their training teams were further accommodated in Monday night's memo.
If you prefer to remain in the secure areas and have your approved medical support personnel (physical therapist, massage therapist, or approved athletic trainer) enter the secure area to provide medical treatments, please follow the previously communicated procedure and complete the form in Teamworks.
The group of agents representing more than 150 of the invited prospects pushed back. If the league did not relent on the original plans, they would hold their players out of combine drills and interviews. The players would only participate in the medical evaluations at the combine if the boycott were to be implemented. They would do their combine drills at their individual pro days.
Sources close to the situation told Graziano that agents and the NFL were discussing the concerns in an attempt to avoid the announcement of the boycott.
The union has long opposed the idea of players skipping the combine and on Sunday issued a memo to player agents in support of it.
The agents of incoming prospects give those players, at their own expense, with trainers, nutritionists and other specialists as part of their preparation for the weeklong event at which they are measured, weighed, interviewed and tested on various skills. Some drills have been moved to prime time for TV purposes and the amount of time the players have to get everything done in Indy has been compressed.
The bubble that would prevent players from interacting with some of the key people charged with making sure they are at their best for combine week was opposed by the agents. One source close to the situation said the nutrition aspect was the most upsetting, since many of the prospects are trying to reach certain weights in time for the combine, and that effort could be upset by the last-minute decision by the league to be the sole provider of food for prospects at the
The combine decided to release the statement after discussions continued throughout Monday in an effort to reach a compromise.
The combine was canceled last year because of the coronaviruses, and teams rely on pro days to make their draft evaluations. The combine is scheduled to run from March 1-8.
The report was contributed to by the Associated Press.
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