Coronavirus: Weeks 1 and 4 of 2020 NFL preseason schedule will be eliminated

Due to the coronavirus, there were no organized team activities this offseason with club facilities closed so it had been rumored that the NFL was going to cut the preseason from four games per team to two in order to allow clubs to spend more time in training camp. According to reports, the league will make that cut official no later than Thursday and will eliminate Weeks 1 and 4 of the exhibition slate. Those are the two most meaningless weeks annually when starters play little if at all.

The annual Hall of Fame Game, this year scheduled for Aug. 6 between the Cowboys and Steelers, was scrapped last week to bring Dallas and Pittsburgh down from five games to four with the other 30 clubs.

This means the debut of the new $5 billion-plus SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will be moved back. Both the Rams and Chargers were set to play home games there in the first week of the preseason. They play each other in Week 2.

Cam Newton's first game with the Patriots -- if he even was to play Week 1 -- was to be Aug. 13 at home vs. Detroit. Now, ironically, it should be against his former Panthers team on Aug. 20. The NFL debut of first-round rookie quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert will have to wait an extra week. The Nick Foles vs. Mitchell Trubisky QB battle on the Bears will begin Aug. 22 in Denver. 

Here's what the schedule looks like as of now, barring any changes in the wake of this announcement. For example, it's possible the NFL will want to move things around to make sure every team plays once at home and once on the road -- ESPN and Sports Business Journal are reporting that will be the case -- although with no fans in attendance, that may not matter. Still, it wouldn't be fair for some teams to never leave home in the preseason and others to play both on the road. 

WEEK 2

Thursday, Aug. 20

Philadelphia at Miami (Tua's debut?)

Carolina at New England (Newton's Patriots debut vs. former team?)

NY Jets at Detroit

Friday, Aug. 21

Atlanta at Buffalo

Minnesota at Cincinnati (Burrow's debut?)

Las Vegas at San Francisco

Saturday, Aug. 22

Cleveland at Green Bay

Baltimore at Dallas

NY Giants at Tennessee

Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (Tom Brady's Bucs debut?)

Seattle at Houston

Kansas City at Arizona

Chicago at Denver

LA Rams at LA Chargers (Herbert's debut?)

Sunday, Aug. 23

New Orleans at Pittsburgh

Monday, Aug. 24

Washington at Indianapolis (Philip Rivers' Colts debut?)

WEEK 3

Thursday, Aug. 27

Detroit at Miami

New England at Philadelphia

LA Chargers at Seattle

Arizona at Las Vegas (Raiders' first game in Sin City?)

Friday, Aug. 28

Pittsburgh at NY Jets

Cincinnati at Atlanta

Saturday, Aug. 29

San Francisco at Chicago

Indianapolis at Buffalo

Green Bay at NY Giants

Kansas City at Dallas

Tennessee at Tampa Bay

Washington at Jacksonville

Houston at New Orleans

Denver at LA Rams

Sunday, Aug. 30

Minnesota at Cleveland

Carolina at Baltimore

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