Robert Griffin III (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
If true, RGIII’s sources have the right idea on the 2020 NFL preseason.
After it was recently announced that the NFL preseason would be reduced from four to two games, Robert Griffin III seems to believe there will be no preseason at all.
With a simple tweet, RGII wrote, “Sources say there will be no preseason this year,” in a way that sounds more like a reporter than a Ravens quarterback.
It isn’t all that difficult to believe either. As COVID-19 persists across the United States, NFL teams are likely to see serious delays in training time throughout the summer. An extra four weeks to prepare for the regular season in place of preseason games may provide the time to gear up for the games that matter.
On the other hand, some may argue that preseason games are essential to transition players from practice pace up to that of a regular NFL game. They have often been particularly valuable for coaches in evaluating their players while also providing opportunities for unproven players on the roster. Eliminating those opportunities could have serious repercussions on the regular season.
How would the NFL react without a preseason as Robert Griffin III suggests?
The debate is just one of the many complications of attempting to conduct an NFL season amid a global pandemic. There are no right answers here, but cutting the preseason may be one of them.
Throwing players into the regular season straight from practice is a tremendous gamble. If it provides the time for players to safely prepare for the regular season, then it may be worth it though. And it would be an even bigger risk to jump into NFL games when the health danger is far greater than the importance of the result, which has never really mattered much in the first place.
