While the protocols and procedures in place to limit the spread of COVID-19 have affected nearly every part of the game-day operation, the X's and O's remain the same. It's dead silent and quiet. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins), Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III (11) celebrates his touchdown score with center Rodney Hudson (61) during the 2nd quarter of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Aaron Jones still did the Lambeau Leap after his touchdown even though there was no one to catch him. The Dallas Cowboys have the highest attendance, with 71,876 fans in their three home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. That means the continued use of artificial crowd noise. It had been so long since any of us had really done anything -- traveling, being in a different hotel. • Raiders ready the 'Death Star', Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings QB: "There's scheduling differences. Schedules have changed. • NFL coaches are 'caught in middle' The Philadelphia Eagles are the latest, announcing this week they’ll host up to 7,500 fans at Lincoln Financial Field beginning Sunday. “There’s nothing like a Raider home game, it’s just different,” Carr said after the game at Kansas City. I like the Lambeau Leap. It's kind of more isolated and it's not just out for the open. Team travel has extra complications in 2020. We're doing our chapel virtually, so we're sitting in our rooms on a computer instead of being in a room together. ", Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers QB: "I feel like it was going to be an advantage for guys like myself who have cadence that can be rhythmic enough to draw people offside. My new NFL injury article has SO MUCH INFO, let's go bit-by-bit: -Excluding Mexico City, 7 most dangerous (and 14 of worst 15) all use artificial turf-Worst grass stadium is CAR-Seattle isn't dangerous b/c the Legion of Boom hurt peoplehttps://t.co/DnIUXNRmM6 pic.twitter.com/y1UTfwTkSL, — Zachary Binney, PhD (@zbinney_NFLinj) October 4, 2018, Sign up for the Seahawks Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. For 2020, they will move in together and share a $5 billion stadium expected to open for the 2020 season. That will mean 15 of the NFL’s 32 teams will be playing on synthetic turf as of the 2020 season. Other than we're in two separate boxes now so there's a lot more spread out to work. Sign up for our free daily Morning and Afternoon Update newsletters. ", Carr, Raiders QB: "People hear calls and checks all the time. 10 teams that make sense, Week 6 NFL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus each team's biggest weakness, Jaguars among NFL teams using silver to try to fight COVID-19, Timeline of the NFL COVID-19 outbreak: How positive tests led to postponed games, Where each of the 32 NFL teams stands on allowing fans into stadiums. When J.J. Watt gets a sack and Charles Omenihu and Zach Cunningham, when those things happen, typically that ignites the stadium and the defense feeds off that energy. So not a huge difference up there. Joe Judge, New York Giants head coach: "Anytime you have a mask on, it slows down your hydration. You sit down and you write down what you want. With early indication that plans for NFL teams that allow fans are working, McCarthy expects more teams to begin to allow fans in the coming weeks. Players need to provide their own juice with little to no crowd energy to boost them. But not this year. As Allegiant Stadium stands ready to be fanless for the entire 2020 NFL season nearly half of the league’s 32 teams are set to allow people in the stands going into Week 6. 6 in NFL's weekly power rankings, Cardinals lose OLB Chandler Jones for the season to biceps injury, Seahawks QB Russell Wilson joins the 99 Club in Madden 21, Seahawks climb to No. By continuing to browse or by clicking “I Accept Cookies” you agree to the storing of first-party and third-party cookies on your device. I'd rather not get fined $100,000. The music was not loud enough. ", Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee Titans QB: "Definitely no energy coming from the stadium; you have to bring our own energy on the sidelines, within the huddle. Hopefully I picked up some sponsors, leaping on FedEx, Invisalign.". If you were trash-talking, if anything, it got picked up more and more low-toned so your guys are not yelling and just talking to them and talking to you. Elliott's mom will remain in St. Louis for games even though AT&T Stadium is one of the few NFL venues -- so far -- to allow fans at games. Sheldon Richardson, Browns DT: "If anything, [trash-talking] has picked up more. There's none of that interaction with friends or family on the road, and in some ways, there's no distractions, either. That was the only thing that was different. I was kind of wishing we had the crowd going right now. The look and feel of game day is totally different in 2020, but the NFL has marched on, aided by an understanding of the need for flexibility. • Resetting Washington's QB depth chart Prescott was injured o the play when Ryan came down on his right leg and left the game. Also when you're on the [team] plane, you naturally dehydrate from the air pressure and the way it affects the cells and the moisture in your cells. Team owner Mark Davis has been steadfast in his stance that if all 65,000 fans can’t attend games at the sold out Allegiant Stadium then no fans will attend games. https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/28/centurylink-field-is-one-of-the-most-dangerous-stadiums-in-the-nfl/, Seahawks running back Chris Carson is NFL's 10th-most explosive runner, Seahawks stuck down at No. Donald, Rams DT: "It was like a more intense scrimmage. Elliott, Dallas Cowboys RB: "Me and my mom, we had a trade-off. Sunday, I'm actually trying to say it with some level of quiet and calm in my voice. 6 in his latest NFL power rankings? Also interesting most of these injuries come earlier in the game regardless of playing surface #HANIC pic.twitter.com/jK1mgabXXo, — Keegan Abdoo (@KeeganAbdoo) May 22, 2020. In the NFL, the Rams and Chargers will play their 2019 seasons in separate stadiums on natural turf. She also found that those injuries are more likely to occur earlier rather than later in games. When the Las Vegas victory against the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was official, the Raiders’ defense had won the day. You always want the fans there. We aren't allowed to leave our hotel, I think. So we're a little more spread out. I told her that she couldn't come down this year, so I finished her basement and got her a nice TV and couches so she has somewhere nice to watch the games. It wasn’t until last week’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium that the Raiders played in front of actual fans, with 13,311 showing up for the game, according to ESPN. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto, Fans watch as the Atlanta Falcons play the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. For the first time ever you're out there in a game and it's really, really quiet. ", Drew Brees, Saints QB: "It's like, you gotta visualize people jumping up and down at home or something like that. Sometimes it becomes really difficult. But some things you can kind of try to hide. Even in pee wee football in fourth grade you'd hear your parents yelling and screaming. Wes Martin, Washington G: "It was very quiet. . No longer are players, coaches and staff allowed to explore the cities they're playing in during what little downtime they have on the road. It's a tradition we have here. Research conducted by graduate assistant Erin Psajdl at the University of Oklahoma shows that football stadiums that feature synthetic turf are more likely to lead to non-contact, lower-limb injuries than those that do not. The best teams are a well-oiled machine on the sideline. At the end of the day it's still football, though. Please remember to wash your hands, wear a mask and stay six feet apart. Which is a good thing.". I feel like we are calling the play too loud,' or something like that. Welcome to NFL game day in the midst of a global coronavirus pandemic. This season's game was originally slated to be played on January 31 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. (Heidi Fang/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Heidi Fang, Las Vegas Raiders fans at Arrowhead Stadium before the start of an NFL football game with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. I told those guys, I thought it was really cool being able to make big plays and hear our guys kind of erupt and could hear like individual voices. We have to be able to go out and play, feed off of each other instead of the crowd, and be the best at playing in that circumstance because both teams are dealing with the same stuff. It was like, you want to talk to someone, but you couldn't because you realize there's this white noise just drowning out anything you wanted to say. ", Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns G: "A few times, I wanted to be like, 'Should we be this loud? (AP Photo/Brandon Wade), Linking Allegiant Stadium to underground transit system moves ahead, Raiders working with Johnathan Abram to control his aggression, Raiders offer to host Super Bowl in 2024; Pro Bowl pushed to 2022, Get your Raiders, Golden Knights gear in shops at Circa, NFL stadiums begin allowing fans but don’t expect Raiders to follow. They're not permitted to leave the hotel to eat in restaurants open to the public, can't jump in an Uber or use other forms of public or private transportation. Not at home games for us, but the first away game felt like a little scrimmage or something like that with no fans in the stands at all. Please check your email for a confirmation. Dan Orlovsky breaks down how NFL players have to take different approaches on game day due to the coronavirus pandemic. Everything from start to finish was weird. “I started hearing Raiders chants throughout the game for the first time. • NFL officials' challenging season — Keegan Abdoo (@KeeganAbdoo) May 22, 2020 CenturyLink Field is one of the few NFL stadiums left with synthetic turf. • Lamar Jackson more one-dimensional? (1:09). Even the smack talk between the lines carries a different feel this season. Merchandise for both teams will be available at Circa Collections retail store when the downtown hotel-casino opens Oct. 28. ", Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs QB: "It's like practicing in the locker room with nobody else in there. And if you're one of those guys, which I think we have a team full of guys like that, then you just go out there and you just love making plays with your teammates. That's really like the only thing to do is to trash-talk. Then I couldn't stop hearing it. You're not dealing with 70,000 screaming people. There’s plenty to debate within the NFL’s various playing surfaces, and there are also plenty of complaints to go around. “The rowdiness, the college atmosphere, but for some of our fans to travel out here, with the knowledge and wisdom to know this would be the first game with fans, and they showed up. “We anticipate more cities coming online in the next few weeks while stadiums that have hosted fans will increase their capacity as the season progresses,” McCarthy said. Allegiant Stadium was set to host the 2021 Pro Bowl but instead will get the game the following year. ", Sean Ryan, Detroit Lions QB coach: "If you've got friends or family in that area you used to be able to see them, even if it was briefly you'd be able to say hello and talk to them a little bit.