Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon isn’t thrilled with the NFLPA after updated COVID-19 protocols went live.
Those protocols, agreed upon by the NFL and NFL Players Association, were announced this past week and include looser restrictions around facilities and with mask requirements for those players who are vaccinated against COVID-19. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero initially shared the memo.
If teams reach 85 percent of personnel vaccinated, they are free to resume normal operations similar to a typical year. Zac Taylor’s Bengals appeared to incentivize calling off the last two days of OTAs work this past week if the team got close enough to that percentage.
But Mixon, while sharing the list of protocols, expressed his displeasure:
The @NFLPA is not for the players they act like they represent us and they clearly show us different time & time again. https://t.co/fIiTZMlkwY
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) June 16, 2021
He continued:
I thought Football was a team sport and it’s clearly being individualized by beliefs…
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) June 16, 2021
I love everybody and I show love to everyone vaccinated or not. “I RESPECT EVERYBODY who decides to get the vaccine or not. I’M NOT AGAINST EITHER! I WILL FIGHT & DIE FOR A RESPECTED DECISION”
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) June 16, 2021
With team leaders like Jessie Bates speaking positively about how Taylor and Co. have handled this hurdle, Mixon — for now — sticks out as one of the players going public with his displeasure. That said, players being unhappy with how the NFLPA handles things isn’t a new development, either.
