ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — These are unusual disruptions that call for similar adjustments.
As Broncos head coach Vic Fangio prepares to get his 90-man roster ready for the upcoming season knowing the offseason may be shut down because of the COVID-19 virus, he is drawing on past experience.
"Luckily in my case and a good bit of the other coaches’ cases, we experienced the 2011 lockout," Fangio said in a media conference call Tuesday. "So there is some precedence for this. The only difference being the players right now are struggling at times to find a place to work out because most of the gyms and places they would go for that have been closed down."
Tuesday was supposed to be the annual NFL head coaches breakfast at The Breakers in West Palm Beach, Fla. In absence of that, the Broncos held a media conference call Tuesday morning (M.Y.O.B. – Make Your Own Breakfast) with Fangio and general manager John Elway.
Fangio has started to call up a few players, including running back Phillip Lindsay on Monday. Bronco players were scheduled to report for the team’s offseason program on April 20. It now appears mass gathering activities won’t be permitted until at least mid-May.
During the lockout, players weren’t permitted on the team’s grounds until a new collective bargaining agreement was reached in late-July.
"The other difference is in the lockout we were not able to contact the players," Fangio said. "This situation will allow us to do that. And I’m sure we’ll come up with something to communicate with the players via the iPad and Skype and all that good stuff.
"We don’t have the total plan yet but we are in the process of getting the players their iPads so they can receive stuff from us in the next couple months."
More pressing is the NFL Draft that begins Thursday, April 23 and runs through Saturday, April 25. The Broncos have five picks within the top 95 selections. That will go on, coronavirus be darned.
"The good thing is we have a tremendous amount of work done already," Elway said on the call. "Our scouts are already looking at juniors that are possible to come out next year in the draft. So our scouts at this point have moved on to next year.
"As far as this year’s draft and the information and the reports we’ve gotten from all the scouts, those are all in. So we feel good about where we are. It helped us tremendously, I think, that we had the (assistant) coaches stay home from the Combine and spend one full week on the draft."
Elway added his team has already begun Zoom video conference calls between coaches and rookie prospects as a replacement to the 30 in-house visits. It’s not the same, but it’s something.
"As far as the setup, we don’t know if we’re going to be back in our complex by the time the draft comes around," Elway said referring to he and his personnel staff and Fangio and his assistant coaches. "We’re in the process now of making arrangements if we’re not able to get back into our complex."
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