As teams around the NFL made its final roster cuts on Tuesday, some wondered whether or not a player’s vaccination status would factor into the decision.
According to Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer, it did.
The first-year NFL coach admitted as much when addressing reporters about paring down the roster to 53 players.
“Everyone was considered; that was part of the production and also was he vaccinated or not,” Meyer said. “To say that was a decision-maker, it certainly was under consideration.”
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Teams are not officially allowed to hold a player's vaccination status against him, so Meyer's comments did not sit well with the NFLPA, which said in a comment to ProFootballTalk that it would open an investigation.
NFL’s COVID protocols are much harsher on unvaccinated players than vaccinated ones as part of the league’s effort to incentivize getting the vaccine.
Unvaccinated players are tested daily and if positive, must miss 10 days and wait for a three-day return period prior to rejoining the team. Any high-risk close contacts who are unvaccinated must also test immediately and even if they produce a negative test they still must miss at least five days.
Vaccinated players are tested weekly and can return immediately after the 10 days if positive and cannot be identified as high-risk contacts (although are subject to other protocols such as testing and mask-wearing) which make them more likely to play in a game.
If an outbreak on a team causes a game to be postponed and is unable to be rescheduled, the team with the outbreak must forfeit that game.
Based on these protocols, it is clear that a more vaccinated team would be at an advantage and Meyer recognized this.
It is unlikely Meyer is the only coach who thought this way, but his admission has clearly fueled the NFLPA to fight for players who may have been cut for this reason.
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