The best defender in the NFL inadvertently gave support to argument that the NFL shouldn't play during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald said he wouldn't be wearing a face shield on the field this year because he doubts its effectiveness against COVID-19.
• In describing playing, Donald said: "If a guy got it and I tackle the guy, then I probably got it because he is going to be sweating and spitting and slobbering all in my face."
• As the NFL season draws closer, the lack of a bubble and nature of the sport has many doubting the season won't be affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2020 NFL season is ramping up, with players reporting to training camp and the coronavirus pandemic hanging over the season.

The NFL and players agreed to a set of protocols, including testing, pay, and COVID-19 opt-outs, to try to get through the season. Skepticism remains about the ability to get through the season, especially as MLB battles outbreaks of the virus and loses games.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the best defensive player and perhaps the best player in all of the NFL, spoke to reporters about precautions like wearing a face shield. Donald said he wouldn't wear one on the field because he felt it would restrict his breathing and that it wouldn't help much in COVID-19 prevention. In the process, Donald made a pretty good argument for not playing football this season.

Here is his full answer, via Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams (emphasis ours):

"Honestly, I probably won't even put that on. I need air when I'm out there running around and breathing with them long drives and stuff. I feel like, we're out there; we're playing up close. There is nothing you can really do. If a guy got it and I tackle the guy, then I probably got it because he is going to be sweating and spitting and slobbering all in my face. So, hopefully these guys are just doing what they need to do. The shield, they say it works, but I don't really think it would, because the way football is played. Like I just said, that's on guys doing what they need to do the right way outside of this facility, as long as guys do that, we'll be fine."

The NFL, like MLB, is not playing in a bubble. Other major sports leagues like the NBA, NHL, MLS, and WNBA have all been playing in bubbles, and this week, the NHL and NBA announced no new positive tests for COVID-19.

With the sheer number of players and staff on each NFL team, an incredible amount of trust is required that each person will follow safety protocols during their own time away from the team. The possibility of coming into contact with the coronavirus also increases because players and staff are going home where they will encounter friends and family members who have come into contact with the virus.

In addition to not playing in a bubble, physical contact is also a major concern for football. Baseball is more naturally socially distanced on the field. MLB just imposed new protocols to require face masks in dugouts and clubhouses.

In football, players are "slobbering" on each other, as Donald said.

There is even concern that social distancing and proper protocols can't be followed at practice facilities. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had called the protocols "impossible" to follow in June.

Yahoo's Charles Robinson reported that a week into training camps, protocols are already being broken.

One team employee told Robinson: "The coaches, it's always going to be looser with the rules. We have some coaches who don't even believe this is a real thing, so you know those guys aren't going to be following everything."

Another said: "I've seen our defensive coaches with their masks pulled down, working like shoulder-to-shoulder together. Which, you know, we've been told over and over to absolutely not do that."

Robinson reported that teams have been thorough in testing and protocols to keep COVID-19 out of buildings, with daily testing, temperature checks, social distancing bands that go off when people are too close together, and more. But some team employees were doubtful that there wouldn't be a "slipup" that could allow a sick person to get in.

As of Thursday, the NFL Players Association reported 56 players had tested positive for COVID-19 since training camps began last week, approximately 2% of all players.

• Read more:
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• The Marlins had to bring in 16 replacement players for their coronavirus outbreak, and their manager has never even met some of them
• Rutgers football team is in the middle of a COVID-19 outbreak and it may be linked to a party players attended
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