Dallas Cowboys: What a successful 2020 training camp might look like

With coronavirus casting a sinister shadow over training camp, how will the Dallas Cowboys overcome it?

Finally, Dallas Cowboys‘ training camp is upon us. But let’s be real. With COVID-19 lurking in the background, hungry to take a bite out of as many players as possible, things are definitely going to be different this year. And considering this changed landscape, fans will also have to adjust their idea of what a successful training camp might look like.

In a normal year, there are a few factors that most fans want to see in a good training camp. They want to see as few injuries as possible, especially to key players. They want to see any lingering question marks resolved.

Usually, there are a few positions that look weak, and fans hope that during the competition between rookies and veterans, someone will step up their level of performance, showing everyone there’s nothing to worry about.

But this year? I think we’re all holding our breath, hoping there will be a football season at all. I know I’ve had that conversation around the water cooler more than once. I’m usually the one asking what the other guy thinks. I’ve never gotten a solid answer. I mean, who knows?

Fortunately, it looks like the NFL has finally come up with at least the beginnings of a plan. According to Dan Graziano at ESPN, there will be daily coronavirus testing for at least for the first two weeks of training camp. If positives results are below five percent, then testing will be every other day. And players will have to pass the test twice before beginning any training camp activities.

While this is better than nothing, it took a twitter protest from some of the biggest stars in the game to get this far. Banding together behind the hashtag, #WeWantToPlay, Cowboys’ linebacker Jaylon Smith, J,J. Watt, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson and many other players voiced their concerns about the lack of protocols and procedures for how to deal with the virus, as reported by USA Today.

Will this testing be enough? I doubt it. But hopefully, it’s just the start. I mean, could we really go into training camp with no plan for infected players other than a stern face telling them to go home? As if players aren’t friends with other players? Surely, this billion-dollar league will come up with a sensible quarantine plan for infected players…. Right? One would think.

Getting back to the original question of what a successful COVID-19 training camp might look like, it’s certain to come down to numbers. If the number of players who contract coronavirus stays relatively low, like single digits, then maybe things might work out.

After all, some of the players are bound to contract the virus while training. Like injuries, it’s just not realistic to think no one will get sick. In fact, there have been 95 players who’ve already gotten the virus, including Cowboys’ star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, as reported by Ben Pickman at Sports illustrated.

There’s definitely going to be more. It’s just the reality. But if most teams around the league can keep their coronavirus numbers low, I think it’s much more likely that there will end up being a football season.

So, going into training camp, that’s what most fans must be hoping. That the NFL gets its act together, and comes up with a plan that wards off the disaster of a canceled season.

Now, on top of all of that, I’m also hoping Dallas finds a good starting cornerback to play opposite Chidobe Awuzie. I’m hoping either Joe Looney, Tyler Biadasz, or Connor McGovern play well enough to look like a long-term solution at the center position on the offensive line. And of course, as usual, I’m hoping that very few players get injured and that none of them will be key starters. But this year, those are pretty minor concerns.

Frankly, if the season starts and the number of cases of COVID-19 are within reason NFL-wide, if it looks like most teams are actually healthy enough, and organized enough to make it through the season, that would be the biggest win of all. If that happens, and I get to watch actual live football this fall, then I would call this training camp/preseason a huge success.