Bears linebacker Trevathan: 'Let's not forget about corona'

While most of us have been focused on the tragic death of George Floyd over the past 10 days, it is easy to forget that it has really had nothing to do with the radical changes to all of our lifestyles over the past few months, at least not until the last few days.

Asked Wednesday if the social upheaval around the Floyd killing will make it difficult for him and his teammates to get back to work, Chicago Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan reminded all of us, "I'm more worried about corona than I'm worried about that in football. I mean it still exists in the world, so let's not forget about corona, bro.

"You know I might go to camp and somebody might have that and I might not be able to play no more."

Recent reports that the NHL, NBA and MLB all have plans to begin games again and that NFL coaches will be allowed back into team facilities any day now have many excited about the possibility we'll have sports again soon.

But common sense is telling us a very different story.

We've heard plans from management to restart baseball, basketball and hockey, but as of yet we haven't seen any definitive plan from any team sport as to how it will handle COVID-19 testing or contact tracing, or what team policies will be when players fall ill or test positive.

It's not even safe to practice or have meetings in person yet and it is no small issue that NBA, NHL and MLB players all stopped all team physical activities cold-turkey almost three months ago. NFL teams' last practices and workouts were five months ago.

NFL teams have all engaged in various forms of virtual team meetings, but beyond the fact that it doesn't vaguely resemble football, Bears coach Matt Nagy acknowledged it could be nearing the point of diminishing returns.

In a portion of his answer to a question about what's going on in his quarterback meetings, he said, "It's hard to say, we're kind of getting to that point right now in these meetings where you can kind of feel the monotony of it."

I've asked him a couple times at what point the virtual offseason could cease to be productive, and while I don't feel he's tried to dodge the question, he hasn't answered it either.

Players have tried to work on their own. Allen Robinson confirmed he and Mitch Trubisky have been working together.

"I've been able to get on the field with Mitch quite a bit," Robinson said. "We get on the field about four times a week.

"Just being able to get on the field with him and also being able to do different things on my own conditioning-wise, I feel in great shape."

And as you'd expect, that has Nagy more than pleased.

"I think No. 1, it's freaking awesome that they're out there doing that. It's great for their sanity, it's great for their football connection as well," Nagy said.

"From what I've been told, I know there's a nice handful of guys that are in the area that are able to go out and do that. I think it's just phenomenal and that's a credit to our guys."

I expect we'd all agree, but it doesn't speak to the real problem.

While the virtual offseason has been great for team-building, how will it benefit playing the game?

The worst thing any of these sports could do is deliver an inferior product in a rush to get back into action, or risk harm to the players' careers by asking them to play again without being appropriately physically prepared.

In the case of the NFL, we are seven weeks away from the scheduled opening of training camps, which normally occur after a month's vacation following a full two-month, team-monitored offseason workout and practice regimen.

We have no indication if it will even be safe to begin practice in seven weeks, and we know it won't be safe if they try to start business as usual after having missed the entire six-month offseason routine.

So are we really close to the return of professional sports or the NFL season starting on time?

It's anybody's guess. Does it seem likely to you?

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.