NFL teams are reporting for training camp as teams prepare for the 2020 season.- According to Mike Garafolo at NFL Network,
Las Vegas Raiders head coachJon Gruden went to extreme measures to demonstrate to his players the seriousness ofCOVID-19 . - During a Zoom call with players, the Raiders coaching staff reportedly briefly pretended Gruden had COVID and was being treated in the hospital.
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden took an odd approach in order to convey to his players the seriousness of COVID-19.
According to Mike Garafolo at NFL Network, the Raiders coaching staff pretended that Gruden had COVID and was being treated in the hospital.
The questionable teaching moment came over a Zoom call with players, with special teams coach Rich Bisaccia taking over for Gruden.
"Bisaccia told them 'Guys, Coach Gruden has COVID. He's at the hospital now and he's being taken care of,'" Garafolo said, before later admitting that Gruden's positive case had been a ruse.
"It wasn't a joke," Garafolo said. "What it was, was the team illustrating to the players that this could happen at any moment to anybody."
"The players really took it to heart from what I'm told, and now going forward know that everybody's got to be on the ready because of the world that we're living in right now."
—Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 5, 2020
It's not the first time Gruden has offered his take on the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking with reporters in July, Gruden made his thoughts on the coronavirus known as only he could.
"We want to crush this virus," Gruden told reporters, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We want to beat it into the ground."
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