After months of working remotely, a portion of the Washington Redskins coaching staff returned to Redskins Park on Friday.
"It's awesome, it really is," head coach Ron Rivera said about being back at the team facility. "I'm looking forward to it."
All NFL facilities were closed starting March 25 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they remained closed until May 19, a few days after the league sent out a memo allowing facilities to reopen if teams followed state and local regulations and implemented additional public health protocols. Coaches and players were still not permitted in their respective facilities at this time.
But on Thursday, the NFL sent out another memo that allowed coaching staffs to be a part of the employees returning to club facilities starting Friday, June 5. Less than 24 hours later, the Redskins coaches who are in town were back in their respective offices, preparing for the 2020 campaign.
"I thought the staff did a great job," Rivera said about navigating an unprecedented offseason. "They were doing all of the Zoom meetings, I was popping in and out and getting a chance to watch them."
Following an unconventional free agency and a fully virtual NFL Draft, the Redskins kicked off their virtual offseason program April 20. They also held a virtual rookie minicamp May 8-10 and a virtual voluntary veteran minicamp May 11-14.
Rivera said the team is fully prepared if there's an opportunity to work with players in person before the mandatory end of all offseason workout programs June 26. But for now, the coaching staff is gearing up for training camp, which is scheduled to start in late July.
"We do have a lot to do," Rivera said. "The biggest thing really is just starting to get everything set for training camp now."
