One of the NFL’s most vocal players has spoken up regarding the league’s return to football amid a global pandemic.
New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins is expressing some serious concerns about playing during the 2020 season if the league is unable to mitigate the risks of COVID-19.
“(Players) end up being kind of on this trust system, the honor system, where we just have to hope that guys are social distancing and things like that,” Jenkins told CNN’s John Berman. “And that puts all of us at risk – not only us as players and who’s in the building, but when you go home to your families. I have parents that I don’t want to get sick.
“And I think until we get to the point where we have protocols in place, and until we get to the place as a country where we feel safe (playing), we have to understand that football is a nonessential business, and so we don’t need to do it. So, the risk has to be, really, eliminated before we – before I – would feel comfortable with going back.”
On Thursday morning, the league made a huge decision by canceling the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, which was set for August 6. The 2020 enshrinement ceremony has been postponed as well.
