COVID-19: Jets and Giants say no fans at home games to start the NFL season

Teams announce news that no fans at MetLife Stadium to start the season.

If you want to see a New York Jets game in-person this season, it won’t be at MetLife Stadium. The Jets in conjunction with their stadium partner the New York Giants jointly announced that they were complying with the Executive Order set forth by Governor Phil Murphy Monday in New Jersey.

Murphy’s order limits spectators at any outdoor gathering to 500 people. This applies to the Jets, Giants, and Rutgers football. The Governor issued the following statement at a press conference Monday in Trenton:

“My Administration has been working in close coordination with professional sports and college teams to determine how to proceed safely with games at their stadiums amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” the Governor said in the statement. “While we look forward to the day we can return to games as normal and cheer from the stands, continued concerns for the health and safety of fans, team members, and staff dictate that our executive order limiting outdoor gatherings does apply to sport events, including training camp.

The Jets immediately responded and issued a joint statement in conjunction with the Giants in response to the executive order.

The key point in the statement was leaving the door open for the situation to change and not putting a date to signify the end of the order. Murphy’s point in his press conference was that this is not just about the continuing numbers of decline in New Jersey, but rather the various hotspots around the country.

New Jersey ‘s COVID-19 numbers have been consistently improving since the beginning of the pandemic including 263 reported new cases on July 18.

“We will continue to closely monitor the public health reality and work with health experts to determine how to move forward, and we will continue to work closely with the teams as conditions change,” Murphy said in his statement. Like all fans across New Jersey, I look forward to watching our teams play from home and plan to be there in person to support the teams when it is safe to do so.”

The players and owners have been negotiating safety protocols heading into training camp. Jets Rookies can report to training camp starting Tuesday.

Quarterbacks and injured players can report on Thursday. The rest of the team will report on July 28.

DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFLPA was a guest columnist for SI’s Monday Morning Quarterback column and expressed his views on the topic of player health.

“Since March, we have been advocating for the best standards to keep our players safe and get paid,” Smith wrote. “As an example, we changed to a virtual offseason that was the culmination of collaboration by experts, strong advocacy by player leaders, and yes, leadership from the NFL.”