The Chicago Bears entered 2020 expecting life would continue as usual. Just get the players back into the building, make some tweaks to the roster and go after the playoffs again. As people have learned, nothing stays the same on this planet. The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic slammed the sports world back in the spring and has forced rapid adjustments to the new reality.
Teams are striving to do everything in their power to play football this year. To do that, they must employ any and all tactics necessary to prevent players from contracting but more importantly spreading the virus. To that end, the Bears training and tech staffs worked together to completely overhaul Halas Hall with a flurry of adjustments towards this end.
Head trainer Andre Tucker led a virtual tour explaining the new upgrades. Suffice to say some of them are straight out of science fiction novels from a device that can take people's temperatures just by scanning them to another that literally tracks personnel who are flagged and indicates who else they've been in contact with.
Chicago Bears doing everything possible but players have to help
The reality is the team has done its part. They've made Halas Hall as safe as humanly possible. However, unlike the NBA they don't have full control of the players inside a bubble. Such is the nature of having such massive rosters. It's just not feasible. So the team is forced to rely on the good judgment of the players themselves to be extra careful with their activities outside the building.
Already this system was put to the test when rookie running back Artavis Pierce was flagged. He landed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. With veterans reporting today for testing, it's possible more will encounter the same fate. It isn't unexpected but all that technology will be tested early and often as training camp gets going in advance of the regular season.
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