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Bucs own advantage as all 32 NFL teams move to intensive protocol

The warm weather has allowed for outdoor classrooms and has prevented virtual meetings.
 
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians watches practice from his golf cart last week at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians watches practice from his golf cart last week at the AdventHealth Training Center in Tampa. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
Published Nov. 19, 2020

TAMPA ― The makeshift team meeting spaces were erected under canopies outdoors at the Bucs’ AdventHealth training center.

It’s a big home-field advantage.

All 32 NFL teams have been ordered to practice intensive protocols for COVID-19 prevention. That includes an order that in-person meetings are permitted only if they are outdoors.

While so many teams will have to hold those meetings virtually, the Bucs have taken advantage of the warm weather to meet outdoors and remain at the training facility.

Instead of Zoom calls, coaches stood under a tent, socially distanced, and conducted position-group meetings in preparation for Monday night’s game against the Rams.

“We actually started it today,” coach Bruce Arians said. “We’re very, very fortunate to have the facility and the weather that we can meet outside. So we have built the classrooms outside and hopefully the rain will hold off. But with our indoor (practice) facility, it’s been pretty much easy for us as far as the meetings and stuff. We will not have to do anything virtually. We can always be in our building, at our facility, indoors or outdoors.”

Will the measures have an impact on preparation for games?

“For us, no, I don’t think it does,” Arians said. “If you’re virtual, I think it makes a huge difference. But for us, wearing masks during practice, we put those Oakley shields on our helmets. You have to wear masks more and be a little more separated and be cognizant of who’s around you and what you’re doing.”