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In the wake of news that up to 155 players won’t participate in Scouting Combine workouts due to a clumsy bubble concept, there’s reason to believe the powers-that-be are getting wobbly. The best evidence? The NFL is blaming the Combine, and the Combine is blaming the NFL for the bubble approach.
Per a league source, the NFL has begun to distance itself from the bubble concept, blaming it all on the Combine. Dr. Allen Sills, the league’s Chief Medical Officer, has said (we’re told) that he wasn’t consulted at all on the Combine bubble.
The league is now privately pushing the idea that the Combine operates independently from the league and that the league doesn’t create or enforce policies.
The pressure from a group of agents seems to be having the desired impact. The hope is that the Combine will eliminate the bubble concept, so that players can have complete access to their physical therapy and performance teams. The agents also want the bench-press testing to be moved to a different day than the day of workouts.
If that doesn’t happen, the players will show up for the medical aspect of the Combine but will boycott the workouts.
We’ll see what happens. The finger pointing by and between the league and the Combine suggests that the bubble could soon be bursting.
