NFL unlikely to adopt bubble sites before playoffs?

It appears the NFL won't be adopting any isolated bubble sites for the completion of the regular season held amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

While competitions such as the NHL, NBA, WNBA, Major League Soccer and National Women's Soccer League all prevented virus outbreaks by embracing isolated hubs, the NFL and NFL Players Association followed in the footsteps of MLB and the MLBPA and agreed that necessary personnel would remain living at their homes and travel for in-market games throughout the campaign. 

It's hardly been smooth sailing throughout the opening five weeks of the NFL season. The Tennessee Titans suffered the league's first COVID-19 outbreak, and handfuls of games have already been rescheduled because of coronavirus-related concerns. 

As Kevin Seifert noted for ESPN, however, NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills said during a Tuesday conference call that the league isn't yet adopting any new structure for the season: 

"I think we all have to recognize that there are no perfect [solutions] here. First of all, a bubble is not going to keep out all infections. You still have other individuals that come in and out: service workers, security, other personnel. And we've known from other experiences that those individuals can be infected. So simply being in a bubble doesn't keep us safe. We still have to do all these measures of mitigation, with PPE, with identifications of symptoms, with testing, etc."

Sills added: 

"Something that is not discussed when people talk about a bubble is the human and emotional and the behavioral health toll that that takes on people. Imagine any one of us being sequestered away from our families, all of our loved ones, for three or four or five months on end. That's a really significant stretch point. And I think that we have to acknowledge that as just as much of a health and safety consideration as is COVID infections. And particularly when talking about a holiday period that we've all grown to love and celebrate."

The Athletic's Lindsay Jones and Daniel Kaplan have reported that the NFL could relocate teams to bubbles in Los Angeles and/or Dallas for the playoffs. It's believed that option remains on the table and is being discussed by the NFL and NFLPA. 

Meanwhile, NFL insider Mike Freeman wrote for Deadspin that some players are "terrified" of catching the virus or spreading it to loved ones. 

"I think a lot of guys are nervous because if we get it, or our family gets it, we’re on our own," one player told Freeman. 

"If we’re still having problems months or years from now, the NFL won’t help us."