CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA President JC Tretter will push for daily COVID-19 testing during training camp as the NFL moves slowly toward the start of the season.
Tretter, who weighed the risks and elected to play in 2020 as his wife, Anna, expects the couple’s first child, said Wednesday that players being tested every day would eliminate some of the lag time in getting results that has led to problems during Major League’s Baseball’s start to the season.
As part of their agreement to open camps, the league and players decided testing would be done on a daily basis for the first two weeks of camp and revert to every other day so long as teams kept their positive rates low.
Tretter feels there’s a need for more testing.
“Throughout this there are going to be constant needs to evolve and change and make decisions that are best to keep the game moving forward,” he said on a video call. “We will continue to learn from our errors, other leagues’ errors and I think that’s something (daily testing) we need to look at and something we need to push.”
Tretter has been satisfied with the coronavirus protocols and guidelines agreed to by the league and union. He praised the Browns for re-purposing their training facility in order to ensure the safest possible work environment for him and his teammates.
The Browns have had four players opt out of the season due to concerns about contracting the virus. The 29-year-old Tretter decided to play after consulting with medical experts because his wife is pregnant,
“I’m staying at the hotel now, just want to make sure everything’s running properly and there’s no outbreak and I’ll stay here until I feel comfortable going back to my house,” he said. “That’s definitely part of it. I think everybody has their own unique circumstances and they need to sort through the information and then gather more information and make the best decision they feel more comfortable with.”
