Making his regular appearance on Pat McAfee's program, Rodgers continues to seek explanations for clamped down safety protocols being enforced by the NFL. Rodgers questions the need for one-person tables at the team's cafeteria facilities along with the instillation of plexiglass ('or whatever the hell it is', per Rodgers) between player lockers.
Later, Rodgers openly asked if the league mandates are being based on optics over necessity. "I just think there are some double standards", he said. "You can dap up a guy after the game, but you can't eat at the same lunch table as a teammate."
The comments come one week after the league clamped down on current Covid protocols, requiring all players to wear face coverings on the sidelines while not in the game. NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills suggested on a conference call that getting player compliance is like 'the new seat belts' and will be a work in progress.
Between the lines, you can determine Dr. Sills looks at the face coverings, plexiglass and social distancing as the league's new normal going forward, whether it be in regards to Covid, the seasonal flu, staph infections or anything else that comes down in the future.
The NFL and other high profile sports leagues also look at themselves as examples on how the general public should comply with the current pandemic.
Rodgers comments also come as new Covid cases and deaths rise dramatically in the United States and worldwide, resulting in hospitals reaching capacity in some areas and a new executive order from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers. Most hard hit in recent weeks have been the 'NFC North states' of Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan. On Tuesday alone more than 135,000 cases were reported in the U.S. with projections of 200,000 new cases per day by Thanksgiving.
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