Pro Football Talk reported on Saturday night that the idea of a 12-game schedule for each NFL team is being discussed as one of the options to adapt to the growing COVID-19 impact on the league. Mike Florio adds that a hard bubble for the remainder of the season could also be in play.
Apparently, that isn't the only scheduling change that is on the table. NFL Network is reporting that the NFL is considering pushing back the start of the playoffs to create a "Week 18" buffer to handle any necessary scheduling adjustments.
"One change the league would consider, sources say, is to push the playoffs back a week to create a buffer week -- Week 18 -- to handle schedule alterations due to COVID," wrote Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero in a joint report for NFL.com. "It would mean just one week between the championship games and the Super Bowl, but it would not be unprecedented."
With the NFL already postponing games while the league tries to get control of the situation and prevent the derailing of the season, adding an extra week would allow for some flexibility should each team keep a 16-game schedule.
Four teams have at least one player who has tested positive for the highly-contagious COVID-19 virus. They are the Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, and New Orleans Saints. The Titans are enduring an outbreak within their organization, with their number of affected personnel up to 18, as of Saturday night.
The NFL has already rescheduled this weekend's matchup between the Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers for Week 7.
The San Francisco 49ers have had three players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but none since linebacker Fred Warner was removed from it on September 9.
H/t to Patrick Tulini for the find.