Fewer preseason games after an NFL offseason without on-field workouts creates more challenges for new coaches, players who changed teams and rookies.
The league is cutting the exhibition schedule in half and pushing back the start of the preseason to allow teams more time to train because the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of organized team activities and minicamps.
An official announcement on the exact length of the preseason still hasn’t been made. Players are strongly considering asking for even fewer exhibition games.
“Be ready for 1 or 0 preseason games. Won’t be 2,” Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
Teams were forced to conduct their entire offseason programs via video conferences, so the league’s five new head coaches haven’t had an opportunity to see how players will adapt to their system on the field.