AROUND THE NFL

Daily Briefing

This from Dr. Anthony Fauci per Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Dr. Anthony Fauci believes American sports can return sooner than some are expecting, but only if strict protocols are in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Fauci said in a Snapchat interview that sports can happen in empty stadiums and with teams quarantined in hotels, rather than having players out and about in public where they might be exposed to the virus, or spreading it to others if they’ve unknowingly been exposed.

“There’s a way of doing that,” Fauci said. “Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels, wherever you want to play . . . have them tested every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out.”

Fauci said he’s sympathetic to the strong desire in America to see sports again, and that he’s a fan himself.

“I want to see them play again,” he said.

It would be asking a lot of players, coaches and other league staffers to quarantine in a hotel for an entire season, but they may be willing to do it if the alternative is canceling an entire season and losing their entire salaries. The details will need to be worked out, and the NFL will have the advantage of seeing how the NBA, MLB and NHL handle it before making any decisions at the start of football season. But Fauci sounded optimistic that sports will return this year.

Please let this only be for play in May and June.  A quarantine into the fall?  Absurd.

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Normally drinking H2O is good (especially if trying to resist infection), but LB ZACH BAUN of Wisconsin says it has landed him in hot water with the drug police.  ESPN.com:

Wisconsin’s Zack Baun, the third-rated linebacker on Mel Kiper Jr.’s draft board, notified all 32 teams that he tested positive for a diluted sample at the NFL scouting combine that he blamed on drinking too much water for weight-related weigh-in purposes, league sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

Under the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement, it will not count as a strike against him whereas it would have under the NFL’s old CBA. Teams don’t believe it will impact Baun’s status and Kiper projects him as a late first-round pick.

Baun, who had 53 solo tackles and 12 1/2 sacks in 2019, weighed 238 pounds at the combine after weighing 242 at the senior bowl.

NFC NORTH

MINNESOTA

QB KIRK COUSINS is thinking about playing in empty stadiums.  Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com:

Amid uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins remains hopeful that he’ll be playing football games this fall.

While the NFL has pressed forward with plans to start the season as scheduled, Cousins noted Tuesday that he believes there are “creative and unique ways” to make certain that games take place.

Does that mean playing in empty stadiums without fans? Although the Vikings QB said he hasn’t given thought to that scenario, the possibility of games having an altered look and feel might not be the most foreign outcome for NFL players.

“Honestly, we practice every day in an empty grass area and pump in fake crowd noise for away games,” Cousins said on a conference call. “But more often than not, you’re used to it. OTA practices don’t have a lot of pomp and circumstance to them. So honestly, to go out and just play the game would kind of be refreshing, a breath of fresh air, to just let us know that we don’t have to have all the smoke and the fire. We can just play football. So as long as we’re playing the game, I won’t have a lot of complaints, and hopefully if it’s still not returned to normal, we can find a way to make it work.”

Cousins recently had to cancel his annual offseason throwing session with teammates due to concerns about the coronavirus. The quarterback will soon begin virtual OTAs from Orlando, Florida, where he and his family are spending time at his parents’ home.

Although he had to alter his training regimen, Cousins said his home workouts have been “surprisingly efficient,” and he feels his body is where it would normally be if the Vikings were on track to start OTAs this month at the team’s facility.

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Are the Vikings going to replace WR SHELTON DIGGS with WR ODELL BECKHAM Jr.?  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Odell Beckham Jr. could be on the move again.

Marc Malusis of WFAN, one of the top local radio stations in the country, has tweeted this: “Source has told me that the Browns and Vikings are in discussions on a trade that would send [Beckham] to the Vikings for a 2nd and 5th round pick next year. Trade is not done, but the deal is being discussed.”

It’s a fascinating possibility, but it seems far-fetched, for several reasons.

First, the cap-strapped Vikings don’t have the luxury of taking on Beckham’s base salary of $14 million. Sure, they could find a way to make him fit, but it wouldn’t be as easy for them as it would be for other teams.

Second, Beckham made a little noise about wanting a new deal from the Browns after last year’s trade from the Giants. If traded again, his desire for a new contract could increase.

Third, the Vikings recently unloaded Stefon Diggs, who had some OBJ tendencies when it comes to not getting the ball often enough.

Fourth, the Vikings are led by quarterback Kirk Cousins, who doesn’t have quite the personality needed to rein in OBJ, if/when he needs to be reined in.

Fifth, the Vikings Offense is built around the running game. While Diggs had a career high last year in receiving yards, patience was required to get through the games that didn’t entail as many balls thrown his way. Diggs didn’t always have it; Beckham has done little to show that he has it.

Sixth, this draft has plenty of quality receivers. Why not draft one or two and pay them low salaries and develop them? Maybe the Laquon Treadwell experience has the Vikings reluctant to roll the round-one dice again.

So the prospect of trading for Beckham becomes a head scratcher from Minnesota’s perspective. But it’s no surprise from Cleveland’s point of view. Beckham never really bought into the Browns’ approach in 2019, with his non-stop desire to get the ball in his hands putting too much pressure on second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield to throw it Beckham’s way.

Besides, Beckham seems to want to play for the Patriots or with Tom Brady. The Browns surely have figured that out, and the Vikings would quite possibly do the same. Quickly.

Thus, while it’s fun to think about the possibility of what No. 13 could do in purple, there’s a chance that it will blow up on the Vikings, like it blew up on the Browns and, eventually, blew up on the Giants.

NFC EAST

DALLAS

What we’ve come to in America.  It is a matter of vital public policy exactly how many people were in a house where no other crime was being committed.  Are you going to believe the suspect, QB DAK PRESCOTT, or TMZ.com?  Todd Archer of ESPN.com:

On the same day Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the organization had communicated with Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott after a report of a party on Friday at the quarterback’s house in Prosper, Texas, that would have violated guidelines regarding the coronavirus pandemic, a frustrated Prescott issued a statement regarding the gathering.

“I think they’re certainly aware now of how sensitive these situations are,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “I don’t think you’ll be seeing that anymore. They’re certainly guys we have the utmost respect for, and I certainly know they understand the sensitivity of the situation we’re in today. It’s certainly very serious and something that we know and certainly know they understand.”

Later Tuesday, while acknowledging his role in the public eye, Prescott expressed frustration about the media coverage surrounding the gathering, which he said had fewer than 10 people.

“I understand and accept that there are additional responsibilities and media scrutiny that come with being an NFL quarterback, but it is very frustrating and disappointing when people provide completely inaccurate information from anonymous sources, especially now,” he said in the statement. “To set the record straight — I know that we all need to do our best to socially distance and like everyone else, I am continuing to adjust to what that requires, but the truth is that I was with fewer than 10 people for a home dinner — not a party — on Friday night.

“I am very sensitive to the challenges we are all facing and making sure to support the first responders and medical personnel and everyone else putting in long hours. We are all at a time when we need to keep educating ourselves about the importance of health and isolation during this pandemic and I will continue to make sure to do my part by following the guidelines until we are approved to start returning to normal activities.”

Prosper police were called to the scene but were unable to verify whether there were more than 10 people at Prescott’s home, which would have been in violation of the CDC’s social distancing guidelines as part of the fight against COVID-19. TMZ reported that more than 30 people were at Prescott’s house. However, a source close to the quarterback said there were not more than 10 people in attendance.

Again, the gathering was not in Manhattan or Brooklyn.  It was in a part of the country almost completely unaffected by COVID. 

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

Does Mike Mayock have an advantage because he is used to evaluating prospects from afar?  Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com:

Might Mike Mayock’s history as a “virtual general manager” for all 32 teams in his previous role as the NFL Network’s draft analyst uniquely prepare him for next week’s unprecedented “virtual NFL draft” and his role as the GM of the Las Vegas Raiders?

Mayock laughed at that notion.

“A virtual GM for 32 teams, huh?” Mayock, the Raiders’ second-year general manager, said Tuesday on a conference call with beat reporters. “I like that. Yeah, that’s a fancy way of saying I sat in my living room and watched a lot of film.

“You can go one of two ways here … you either embrace it and say, ‘This is pretty frickin’ cool that we’re really just going to watch film and trust who we are as evaluators and trust in who we want in our building.’ Or you can kind of look at it and say, ‘Well, I don’t have verified medicals, and I don’t have verified 40s, and I don’t have verified height, weight, speed,’ and panic about it. And I think we kind of, as a team, as a building, we’ve collectively said, ‘We’re going to embrace it.'”

The Raiders, in the midst of their move to Las Vegas and still-under-construction Allegiant Stadium, have seven draft picks: two in the first round, Nos. 12 and 19, and five more of the top 91 selections.

Las Vegas has glaring needs at receiver and cornerback but, with no picks in the second round, could be primed to trade back from No. 19 or use one of its three third-round selections (Nos. 80, 81 and 91) to get into the second round. Mayock has said that he loves picking between No. 20 and No. 60.

Drafting and trading draft picks virtually, though, presents unique challenges — challenges Mayock is already well versed in, so to speak.

“Everyone’s talking about this virtual draft and how high-tech it is,” Mayock said. “If you could see my living room right now, it’s the ultimate in low-tech. I’ve got five huge whiteboards, and I probably have a thousand magnets with names on them all over the place. So I kind of feel like I’m sitting in the middle of a 1976 draft room, and it’s kind of back to the future.”

The scouting hasn’t been done completely without technology, though.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on Zoom,” Mayock said. “Our coaches have done an unbelievable job of preparing information to challenge the college players via the Zoom. I don’t even know how many we’ve done so far, but it’s been pretty cool spending up to an hour with each of these individual kids and getting to know them that way.

“I think the harder thing with this draft is the medical side of it — just trying to verify, especially the guys that had surgery after the new year, what kind of rehab they’re having, are they going to be [healthy] in time for training camp … will there be a training camp? Is there any part of the offseason program that won’t be virtual? And I think that’s where it really gets tricky.”

Mayock said the Raiders will begin their virtual training program April 27. He also said that with every team in the same “virtual” situation, there is no disadvantage to be gleaned.

But Mayock might have an advantage, given his history, right?

“To be honest with you, for me personally … it is kind of what I’ve done for the last 20 years. It truly is,” he said. “I feel very comfortable sitting at my dining room, crunching tape, calling college coaches and looking to get any advantage and any information I can on every guy we’re interested in. So it’s a really good question. And to be honest with you, we’re just, as a group, we’re embracing it. I think it’s been a great process.”

Mayock isn’t coy about where his focus might lie for at least one of the two first round picks.

On Tuesday, General Manager Mike Mayock admitted that’s not enough.

“There’s no secret we need to get better at wideout,” Mayock said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The good news for the Raiders is that this year’s draft class meshes well with their needs. They will have a shot at snagging one of the top wideouts with the No. 12 pick and the depth of the group means that Mayock thinks “there could be a wide receiver No. 1 in the third round.”

We’ll see how the Raiders play things next week, but Mayock sent a pretty strong signal about some of the team’s intentions.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com on what the Ravens might get out of this draft, with middle linebacker his presumed priority.