Tagovailoa’s injury history has raised red flags in league front offices. But other concerns about his talent ring hollow—and seem to overlook just how remarkable the QB was at Alabama.
… Hamstrung by social distancing regulations and relegated to a minuscule patch of indoor turf, Dilfer devised an innovative, 72-throw workout to showcase the 22-year-old’s abilities, which was later sent to all 32 teams.
“I didn’t want to create this thing where it was confusing to the scouts. I don’t care about the public, who sees it in the public. I couldn’t care less about that,” Dilfer said. “It was built for the 32 teams. I wanted those 32 GMs, owners, coaches, scouts, to have it make sense — Why are they doing that?”
“I thought it went pretty good, given the circumstances,” Tagovailoa said. “We only had so much of the field to work with. … We did it all under the precaution of the 10-people limit.”
… “There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing on my schedule. I literally go train. I’m getting more fit. I’m getting sharper, and I’m just able to kind of spend my whole mind on this task of just training and getting better, and I don’t feel rushed,” Lloyd said.
The two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion said she’s been training at a facility her coach has in New Jersey, as well as in the gym she has in her basement.
… “You’ve got some players that are privileged enough to be isolating in their luxury mansions with full gyms and [who] practically built their own Olympic training centers,” an Eastern Conference NBA athletic training official said.
“And you’ve got some people that are isolating in their 1,200-square-foot apartment or at their parents’ house. That’s the range of the 450-some-odd players in the NBA. I think that to make those determinations, you can’t make a determination on the guy that lives at his own private Olympic training center. You have to make the determination at the lowest common denominator.”
“[And] people forget how much these guys are actually getting treated every day,” a Western Conference GM added. “Preventively treated, not to heal but to prevent injury. So that’s been missing.”
Ron Rivera made plenty of mistakes as a first-time NFL head coach that he hopes not to repeat this time around.
Rivera also did enough good things early on with Carolina in 2011 that he’s trying to duplicate now with Washington. The new Redskins coach took some big swings in free agency, but has so far been more focused on incremental additions and subtractions to change the culture within the organization and build for the future.
“We added pieces to the puzzle that we just felt that we needed: guys that are going to come in, guys that are hungry, they’re going to compete,” Rivera said. “We feel good about the young guys, and we feel good about some of the veteran guys. We feel it’s a good mix right now.”
The NFL and the NFLPA on Monday finalized plans for modified offseason workout rules to govern a 2020 offseason in which the coronavirus pandemic is preventing teams from gathering at team facilities.
According to a league memo obtained by ESPN, under the plan all offseason work aside from mandatory June minicamp is voluntary for players, as it is in a normal year. The memo also states that no team is required to hold an offseason program in any league year according to the collective bargaining agreement, but that if teams decide to hold offseason workout programs this year, “classroom instruction and on-field activities that customarily take place at the Club facility … are being supplanted by on-line classroom instruction and virtual workouts for an indeterminate period.”
The rules for “virtual” offseason programs state that no NFL team is required to participate in the “Virtual Period,” which is defined as running from April 20 to May 15, and that a team may conduct classroom work online even if it doesn’t assign its players specific workouts. If a team decides to hold an offseason program, its players would receive their customary per diem payments just as if they were there in person ($235 minimum per day) and would be entitled to receive any offseason workout bonuses specified in their contracts, provided they fulfill the participation requirements their contracts specify.
After the Vikings closed their practice facility in Eagan in March, Kyle Rudolph found himself with three days to train outside his home at a workout facility that was yet to shut down.
It turned out to be a happy accident that sparked the veteran tight end to buy a piece of equipment that he believes will help him emerge from quarantine as fit as he would be in a normal offseason.
Rudolph stopped in to Exos Minneapolis, where he had trained before the Vikings opened their expansive facility in 2018, and found the Timberwolves had just installed two units of Tonal, a smart home gym that uses digital weights and artificial intelligence-based training programs. Rudolph had been interested in purchasing one for his wife, Jordan, to use at their home in Plymouth, but after he was able to try the program out in Minneapolis, he knew it could help him train for his 10th NFL season as well.
He’s been training with it at home for two weeks now; the quality of the workouts, he said, are in line with what he’s typically had at the Vikings’ facility.
Studies suggest psychological support is still stigmatised and misunderstood in English football. With the help of an example from abroad and expertise from performance psychologist Matt Shaw, Adam Bate explores why that’s a worry and a missed opportunity
… The researchers came to this conclusion by simulating the occurrence of saliva particles of persons during movement (walking and running) and this from different positions (next to each other, diagonally behind each other and directly behind each other). Normally this type of modelling is used to improve the performance level of athletes as staying in each other air-stream is very effective. But when looking at COVID-19 the recommendation is to stay out of the slipstream according to the research.
The results of the test are made visible in a number of animations and visuals. The cloud of droplets left behind by a person is clearly visible.
Taiwan’s Super Basketball League is believed to be the world’s only professional basketball league that is currently operational — a feat made possible by a swift response to coronavirus (six deaths in a country of 24 million people).
Why it matters: Despite being much smaller than the NBA (five teams compared to 30), the SBL’s game-night protocols and empty arenas provide a glimpse of what NBA games might look like if conditions allow for its return this season.
Everyone knows that food and nutrition are essential for life, but have you ever wondered how NFL players eat? Have you ever wondered what your favorite 49ers eat? My name is Jordan Mazur and I’m the Coordinator of Nutrition for the 49ers. I’m a registered dietitian (RD) and entering my fourth season with the 49ers leading all aspects of nutrition. My main role is to work directly with players, coaches, staff and our food service to ensure our players are getting all the nutrients and energy they need for performance, recovery and health. So here’s a look at the five main areas that I work with to make this happen:
Developing young talent has been one of the key tenets of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s fledgling managerial career at Manchester United.
Such a commitment can be seen away from the pitch at Old Trafford too. Few outside the club will know the name Chris Chiang, who arrived as Strategy Executive in October 2017 at the age of just 27, but he has become an important figure.
One colleague told TGG: “Chris is a very impressive guy. He pieces together big projects for us, ranging from huge detail to the granular stuff.”
Recently, the Warwick University graduate (pictured) has played a leading role in developing the club’s data science strategy, with the ultimate objective of creating the best department of its kind in world football.
“They’re the model right now,” one rival NL executive said. “They’re hitting on all cylinders. They’re drafting very well. They’re developing very well. They’re obviously very good at the big league level. They’re doing it all.
“With their resources on top of it, it’s definitely a bit of an uphill battle for the rest of us.”
Are Ajax still the most influential football club on the planet? Adam Bate spoke to commercial director Menno Geelen to find out how they are leveraging their academy brand to fund the club and continue to shape the way that football is played all over the world.