Eagles players have made the collective decision to skip in-person voluntary spring workouts, per the NFL Players Association.
The NFLPA released a statement on behalf of Eagles players, where they expanded on their decision:
“The ongoing pandemic is obviously still an issue for our city and our country, and it is unnecessary for us to put ourselves at risk in this environment. We also know what the data shows about our overall health and safety.”
Certainly, no one can blame the players for their decision. Even if the country is slowly starting to heal and vaccines are becoming widely available, there is still an always present risk when large groups gather.
The Eagles aren’t the only NFL team dealing with this. 18 other teams, such as the Chargers, Rams, Broncos, Falcons, Ravens, and Dolphins have seen their players choose not to attend voluntary workouts due to the pandemic.
Could This Have An Effect The Eagles?
The players opting to skip out on these voluntary practices will probably have minimal impact on the Birds. After all, the practices were voluntary to begin with. As long as players show up when the involuntary workouts begin, there shouldn’t be a problem.
However, having players come in and start working out would’ve been nice for the team considering they have a new head coach in place. The more time he can spend with his players in-person before the season, the better. Nick Sirianni will just have to continue getting to know his players remotely, I suppose.
If you’re wondering what happens next for Philadelphia and their training, the NFL recently announced their offseason plans (via Ian Rapoport). The virtual period will start to wind down around mid-May, where there is a mandatory minicamp for teams:
The NFL has announced its offseason plans in a memo to teams, with four weeks of virtual work, one week of on-field teaching work beginning May 17, then four weeks of OTAs and minicamp – with only minicamps being mandatory: pic.twitter.com/S8da4aCK7k
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 14, 2021
