NFL quarterbacks hold passing sessions minus bonding activities

AP photo by Nick Wass / Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill leaps into the end zone for a touchdown against the host Baltimore Ravens during the second half of a divisional round playoff game on Jan. 11.
AP photo by Nick Wass / Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill leaps into the end zone for a touchdown against the host Baltimore Ravens during the second half of a divisional round playoff game on Jan. 11.

Some NFL quarterbacks are still finding ways to hold offseason throwing sessions with receivers during the coronavirus pandemic, though things look much different.

Players are keeping it simple and sticking to football instead of the annual weeklong bonding trips that have included sleepovers, cookouts, fishing, golfing and other activities.

Detroit's Matthew Stafford has thrown to Lions receivers Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola in California. He also connected with Lions tight end Isaac Nauta and rookies Quintez Cephus, a wide receiver, and D'Andre Swift, a running back, in the Atlanta area. Like Stafford, Nauta and Swift are former Georgia Bulldogs; Cephus played high school football in the Peach State.

"We're limiting the amount of people that are there," Stafford said. "Obviously, it's only the guy throwing and the guys catching."

The 32-year-old quarterback has changed his routine between throws to avoid spreading germs.

"I'm honestly making a conscious effort to try not to lick my fingers before I get the ball or throw it," he said. "All those kinds of things are things that I would have never thought I would have had to think about."

After workouts, Stafford and his group are not giving high-fives, bumping fists or hugging.

"Everybody would just kind of click cleats at the end and say, 'Appreciate you running, appreciate you throwing and move on,'" Stafford said. "So doing everything we can to try to stay safe. Obviously, I have three little ones and a pregnant wife at home, so it's at the forefront of my mind to make sure that I'm staying safe."

photo AP photo by Rick Osentoski / Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has had to change his routine during offseason throwing sessions with teammates amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Quarterbacks often organize passing workouts before training camp. They use that time together to build chemistry with new receivers, and it's an overall bonding experiencing.

Philadelphia's Carson Wentz held workouts with Eagles teammates in his hometown in North Dakota in 2017. Last year, he invited them to his house in Texas.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott got together last July with wideouts Randall Cobb and Amari Cooper and tight end Jason Witten, along with other players.

"The training is one thing," Prescott said after the trip. "You're going out there, spending a few hours training, hammering it, talking about how I want you here on this route or what I'm thinking on this route and vice versa. But when you leave there, play a couple rounds of golf, you have dinner, those type of things, those conversations - the tight ends getting to know the receivers better; me getting to know them better.

"All that pays off in the end when it comes to crunch time in a game. You can look at a guy and you know you put in time, that camaraderie, and you create a relationship that it's easy at that point."

Social distancing and sheltering at home rules due to the pandemic have canceled those types of gatherings and forced players to alter their normal routines. Any throwing sessions now are important because teams are holding virtual meetings instead of traditional offseason programs.

Earlier this week, new Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and several of his teammates worked out on a high school field in Florida. Center Ryan Jensen was there, along with receivers Mike Evans and Scotty Miller, tight ends Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard, running back Dare Ogunbowale and quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin.

Cleveland's Baker Mayfield invited several of his Browns teammates, including tight end David Njoku and wide receiver Rashard Higgins, to get together with him in Texas last week.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and backup Matt Barkley worked out this month with three draft picks - wide receivers Gabriel Davis and Isaiah Hodgins and running back Zack Moss - in Southern California. Allen also plans to throw to new receivers John Brown and Stefon Diggs.

"There's challenges for everyone, right? But what you do is, is you try and find ways to adjust and adapt, and like we said before our theme this offseason has been 'Find a way,'" Bills coach Sean McDermott said. "And I think that really fits the time and the situation and circumstances we're in."

Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been working out with tight end Jonnu Smith for two months at a park in Florida.

"Not illegally, we're not breaking any rules, it's privately owned. We're getting all the work in that we can," Smith said, adding that "Ryan is making me better, I'm making him better, and we're just building that chemistry on anything you can imagine as far as what it takes to be a quarterback, a receiver, tight end. Just going on certain things to get each other better. It's been great work, we've been able to maximize the most of our opportunity. I love doing it, and I love working with him."

Titans wide receiver A.J. Brown is catching passes from practice squad quarterback Logan Woodside back in Tennessee. Brown planned to join Tannehill in Florida but stayed home because of the lockdown.

"I'm definitely putting in work, so as (soon) we can get back together we'll get back where we left off," Brown said. "I don't think this offseason (being altered) due to the coronavirus is going to mess anything up. You have to put in the work. The work shows."

Upcoming Events