Patriots: Jason McCourty explains why he’s nervous about 2020 season

Patriots DB Jason McCourty reveals concerns about the 2020 season.

With the start of training camp fast approaching, players around the NFL are beginning to come forward and voice their concerns about carrying through with the season amid the coronavirus pandemic, which is still prominent in certain regions of the country despite us being months removed from lockdown. Speaking on the latest episode of his “Double Coverage” podcast, Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty became the latest player to join that growing list.

After all, the return of the NFL is now becoming very real.

The 32-year-old veteran admitted that he has serious trepidation about the 2020 campaign after seeing what his colleagues are up to on social media.

Essentially, he’s been noticing that other players are blatantly ignoring social distancing safeguards and is thereby worried about having to report to Gillette Stadium for testing.

That’s a powerful quote from McCourty, and there’s a ton of truth to the message he’s trying to communicate.

For starters, he has a wife and three children, so the thought of potentially jeopardizing the health of his family by contracting the virus has to be bombarding his brain.

Additionally, a large portion of the United States has seemingly lost most of the progress it made during quarantine in terms of curbing the spread of COVID-19. Thousands of positive cases have been reported in recent weeks, and the daily spike, as the NFL braces for a schedule of nationwide travel, is an even greater cause for concern.

As dozens of NFL players continue sharing social media updates of them in higher-risk environments, McCourty is wholly justified in feeling apprehensive about reporting to training camp, where he will share a locker room with more than 70 other players, each of whom has to work in perfect lockstep to prevent the virus’ further spread.

Unfortunately, the Rutgers product’s uneasiness was likely amplified on Monday following MLB’s decision to cancel two games following an outbreak of positive cases within the Miami Marlins organization.

You can’t even fault McCourty for being a pessimist here.

Given all of the information about the virus and social media content at his disposal, he is understandably wary in having to report to Foxborough this week for testing now that the NFL’s return-to-play blueprint has been ratified.