NFL Changes 2021 Screening Combine Format Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

NFL coaches, scouts and staff executives will not descend to Indianapolis in February for the annual scout combine, as the league has altered the event to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

The combine, which has been in Indianapolis since 1987, will be modified due to COVID-19 precautions. In a note obtained by ESPN that was sent to team leaders, athletic coaches, team medics and head coaches on Monday, the NFL outlined the format for preparing for this year’s draft.

Each year, approximately 330 of the draft’s top prospects are invited to the combine, an event officially called the National Invitational Camp.

Prospects go through on-the-job training, a battery of psychological tests, in-person interviews with individual teams, and a thorough medical examination.

This year all of the field practice will take place on professional days on campus, and Monday’s memo says the league will try to have as much consistency as possible in field drills to give teams the ability to compare training from one site to another. The memo does not specifically outline the COVID-19 precautions that will be in place during work days on campus, but does indicate that more details on how team staff should participate in work days will come in. a later date.

All interviews between prospects and team officials will be conducted virtually, as will psychological testing. The memo indicates that the interview schedule will be coordinated by NIC staff.

Medical exams, for the most part, should be conducted in a combination of virtual interviews between players and medical staff on each team, to accompany exams performed at medical facilities close to the prospect’s home campus.

According to the memo, a number of prospects will be invited to one or more designated sites for a more comprehensive review – “likely in early April,” according to the memo – to which a doctor and a sports coach from each team.

These in-person reviews are expected to take place over a period of two or three days. The memo says more details will be sent to teams in the coming weeks.