Photo courtesy of the San Francisco 49ers
49ers and Cardinals will be required to wear face coverings on sidelines during Week 1
NFL teams will need to abide by local restrictions when it comes to COVID-19 precautions. That includes visiting teams.
There are currently only two NFL markets where players will be required — not recommended — to wear face coverings while observing from the sidelines. They are the San Francisco 49ers, who play in Santa Clara, California, and the Buffalo Bills, who play in Orchard Park, New York.
Although, the NFL strongly recommends that players and personnel wear face coverings in all NFL stadiums.
That means the visiting Arizona Cardinals will need to wear face coverings on Levi's Stadium's sidelines on Sunday.
"We will continually monitor the state and local regulations and provide periodic updates but for now, all players on the sidelines for games in San Francisco and Buffalo must wear face coverings," read an NFL memo.
Even pregame coin tosses across the league will look different, as each team can be represented by only one person, who will wear a mask.
Access to each NFL locker room will be restricted to the 53 players and 40 others, which includes coaches, trainers, equipment staff, the general manager, one member of the team's security staff, and one member of the public relations staff.
Want some 49ers-branded face masks?
Check out the selection here at the team's official online store.
Sideline personnel, but not necessarily players or coaches,
will be required to wear face coverings in the other NFL markets.
The NFL
announced in June that any fans in attendance, no matter how limited available seating is, will be required to wear face coverings. Levi's Stadium will
not host any fans during Week 1.
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