NFL teams can begin reopening their facilities next week, although coaches and non-rehabbing players still will not be permitted, according to a memo obtained by ESPN on Friday.
In the memo sent to the 32 NFL teams, commissioner Roger Goodell wrote that clubs could begin using their facilities starting Tuesday, provided they meet a preestablished set of protocols and have permission under state and local regulations. Teams that are not ready or permitted to open by then can do so as soon as they meet the necessary criteria.
The first group of employees allowed back into facilities would include no more than 50% of non-player staff, up to a total of 75 per day. The only players permitted to return would be those who were already rehabilitating injuries prior to the facility closures, and no members of the coaching staff are allowed in the facility. Strength and conditioning coaches participating in player rehab may continue that work in the facility but otherwise are barred until the rest of the coaching staff is allowed to return.
Former Los Angeles Rams great Eric Dickerson ripped the team’s new uniforms on Wednesday during a radio interview with AM 570 LA Sports.
Dickerson, who set the NFL single-season rushing record with 2,105 yards in 1984 for the Rams, had previously criticized the logo. Now he took aim at the uniforms.
Among his comments, he said the horns on the helmet look like “two bananas” and that the changes make the team look “soft.”
“This is football. This ain’t nothing to do with surfing. This ain’t nothing to do with waves. This is football. This is a man’s sport,” Dickerson said in the interview. “And to me, it just looks soft. It don’t look like football. It don’t look hard.”
Dickerson, who is currently the Rams’ vice president of business development, also said the team should have gotten input from the players before making the changes. Dickerson said he talked to
Defensive end Taco Charlton promised the Kansas City Chiefs would get the best version of him, something that perhaps the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins didn’t get in his previous NFL stops.
“I guess you could say that,” Charlton said, when asked whether his recent signing with the Chiefs could be his last chance to resurrect a career that began as first-round pick with the Cowboys in 2017.
“My foot is on the gas for this one. I’m not saying I gave my full effort everywhere I’ve been. All [previous] situations, things came to an end and it was kind of mutual. It wasn’t really much of a surprise. … I was feeling kind of out of position a little bit in the past. This year, I feel like I’ll be comfortable and use my talents to the best of my ability.”
Charlton lasted just two seasons with Dallas, where he had four sacks in 27 games. He had five sacks in his 10 games with Miami last season, but the Dolphins recently waived him.
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The Chiefs have some depth at defensive end with starters Frank Clark and Alex Okafor and former second-round draft picks Tanoh Kpassagnon and Breeland Speaks in reserve. The Chiefs also selected Mike Danna in the fifth round of this year’s NFL draft.
Clark and Charlton were college teammates at Michigan.
“It was a place I was looking forward to coming,” Charlton said of Kansas City. “Once I cleared [waivers], Frank was on the phone and we were talking. Nothing else really mattered. Money-wise, nothing really mattered. I just wanted to play football and wanted to go to a good situation where I could play some good football and add myself to a good defense.
“It was just everything about the organization, from hearing how great of a coach Coach [Andy] Reid is, and then once I talked to Frank, he told me how great of a coach [defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] is, how great a person he is and how I’d like to play for him. That’s all I really needed to hear. Once I got a chance myself to talk to him and talk to [defensive line coach Brendan] Daly, I was more comfortable with coming here. I’m excited to see what I can bring here to Kansas City.”
The Las Vegas Raiders are finalizing an agreement with veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara, a source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Amukamara, who has started 99 games in his career, should compete for a starting job with Las Vegas at best and provide much-needed experience and depth at cornerback at the very least.
The Raiders return Trayvon Mullen, who started the last 10 games of his rookie season last year, and used a first-round draft pick, No. 19 overall, on Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette and a fourth-round pick on slot corner Amik Robertson.
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Amukamara, who turns 31 on June 6, was released by the Chicago Bears on Feb. 21, as he was entering the final season of his three-year, $27 million extension signed in 2018. His cap hit was to be $8 million.
Amukamara spent three seasons with the Bears, appearing in 44 of 48 games with 42 starts, and had three interceptions (all in 2018), 29 passes defended, three forced fumbles, a recovery and a defensive touchdown.
In nine NFL seasons, he has 476 tackles and 10 interceptions.
A first-round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2011, he was part of their Super Bowl team in his rookie year. He also spent a season with the Jacksonville Jaguars before joining the Bears in 2017.
Raiders general manager Mike Mayock acknowledged before the draft that the Raiders needed to address the position, especially after an offseason agreement with free-agent cornerback Eli Apple fell through.
“We feel like we got a bunch of talented young kids that we don’t know enough about yet,” Mayock said. “Trayvon played really well the second half of the season. We believe that he’s going to be a starter for years to come. Isaiah Johnson was a fourth-round pick, a former wide receiver with all kinds of physical skill set. We love his traits. He got hurt early, we brought him back late. He’s a guy we can’t wait to see play. Keisean Nixon was a free agent out of South Carolina who made the team and played well on special teams. He’s a really competitive young man. And Dylan Mabin is another kid out of Fordham who got hurt and didn’t get a chance to show what he can do.
“So, we’ve got four or five young corners who we’re kind of intrigued by. Now, do we think that we need to get better there? Yeah.”
Enter Arnette, Robertston and, now, Amukamara.
ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez contributed to this report.