The start of the 2020 NFL season is just around the corner with the Las Vegas Raiders reporting for training camp at the end of July.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the 2020 season will certainly be an unusual one. All teams have been forced to conduct all offseason business, including the draft, virtually to remain safe.
Additionally, fans aren’t expected to be in attendance at stadiums throughout the season unless local laws allow it, which is unlikely considering cases are continuing to spike all throughout the country.
Despite all of the restrictions in place, the goal for the Raiders of returning to the postseason and winning the Super Bowl remains in place. With so many new additions to the roster, it won’t be easy considering the lack of on-field workouts.
Teams typically hold joint practices with other organizations during training camp to get extra reps in, although that also will not be allowed this year. There also has been discussion about shortening the preseason from four to two weeks, and according to ProFootballTalk, the NFL is following through with that this year:
Week One and Week Four will be the preseason weeks that are scrapped, per source.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 1, 2020
The Raiders were set to travel to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 of the preseason and host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4. If those games are scrapped then that would leave a road game against the San Francisco 49ers and a home game against the Arizona Cardinals as the team’s lone 2020 preseason contests.
That game against Arizona will be the first in the history of the Raiders’ new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Considering the Raiders don’t play their starters much in the preseason, these changes are not drastic. Who it will affect the most though is the players on the bubble of making the roster that want as many game reps as possible to prove what they are capable of.
