#Major League Lacrosse unified regarding coronavirus protocols

Enlarge Image

Major League Lacrosse commissioner Alexander “Sandy” Brown
Twitter

Other leagues can take a page out of Major League Lacrosse’s playbook.

As they prepare to open training camp in the coming days, NFL players have publicly criticized the league for its lack of a concrete plan. Before they finalized their season, MLB and the players union minced no words in chastising each other over a pay structure and proper safety protocols.

The opposite can be said for MLL, which condensed its four-month season into an 11-day tournament in Annapolis, Md. as commissioner Alexander “Sandy” Brown was in constant communication with his players.

“It’s critical,” Brown told The Post. “It’s absolutely critical. I started talking to the players – I talked to them twice a month – and we dialed them in on this in March. We walked them through everything that we were doing. They had the early versions of the protocols so they could weigh in on it. I gave them the background and the context in terms of who we were using to consult. They knew that we meant business when we put these things together. They got to a very good comfort level in terms of what we were doing.”

All six teams will play five regular-season games before the top four teams advance to a single-elimination playoff. The New York Lizards lost their opening two games.

Brown spoke with commissioners of other leagues, including the NBA’s Adam Silver, and decided to implement a “bubble.” Players are only allowed at their Westin hotel and the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

“[Brown] made it very clear that we needed to be professionals,” Lizards attacker Dylan Molloy told The Post. “Obviously, anything that we do can harm someone. We knew that’s on us. We’ve been given this opportunity that we know can easily be terminated if something did go wrong. We had input before anything was finalized, so that was helpful.”

Unlike rookies on the Jets, whose arrival to training camp was delayed because of confusion over testing protocols, MLL’s processes have been in the works for weeks. Before traveling to the bubble, each player was sent a kit with a face mask, gloves, goggles and sanitizer, and had to record a negative test. They get temperature tests twice a day.

“Every player to the man has comported themselves with a professionalism that we expect, and they’ve taken it very seriously,” Brown said. “If anybody wanted to opt out, and that was their choice, we would’ve honored that. But nobody wanted to. The guys are here, and they’re playing in oppressive heat and putting on an incredible show. We’re taking care of them.”