With the NFL Kickoff less than a month away, teams are doing their best to remain as safe as possible in the middle of a pandemic. For the Dallas Cowboys, that means heading to training camp in a bubble.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Todd Archer reported Tuesday night that most Cowboys players, coaches, and staff will use a bubble format for their ramp-up toward the 2020 regular season. Thanks to the world-class facilities the Jones family built in Frisco, it won’t be a very difficult task.
A large number of Dallas Cowboys are now forming their own virtual training camp bubble before on-field practices start Friday and they will begin checking into the Omni Hotel next to the team’s practice facility, league sources tell me and @toddarcher.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 11, 2020
At The Star, Ford Center is right next to the Omni Hotel, where team members will be staying instead of going home. While this is not mandatory, the Cowboys are reportedly strongly suggesting the players and coaches do so and the majority of the team is expected to, per Archer.
According to the report, rookies and free agents have already been staying at the Omni Hotel with veterans joining them this week.
The concept of having training camp in a bubble not only prevents COVID-19, but it could benefit players as they prepare for the 2020 season in different ways.
First of all, when the NFL announced teams wouldn’t be able to hold training camps outside of their team facilities, many players around the league spoke about how important it was for them to “get away” with their teammates and how the experienced helped them as a group.
We’ve talked a lot about how complications might emerge for a team like the Cowboys, which will be trying to implement a new culture under new Head Coach Mike McCarthy. Having increased access to his players should only help as his coaching staff implements new playbooks and rules in a shortened period of time. It should be pointed out that these are the first interaction McCarthy is having with his team excluding video calls.
When McCarthy first spoke to the team, we watched him tell his players “Everything we do will be about winning.” Implementing a bubble of sorts for training camp also matches the description.
