Dan Marino owns the #NFL record for the most consecutive pass attempts without being sacked, at 759

The next closest is Mark Rypien, with 252 straight attempts 🤯 pic.twitter.com/qtNVEa0oEg

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) May 24, 2020

Evidence is growing that when masks are worn by nearly everyone, it can slow coronavirus transmission.
Masks help stop the spread of coronavirus – the science is simple and I’m one of 100 experts urging governors to require public mask-wearing

https://theconversation.com/masks-help-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus-the-science-is-simple-and-im-one-of-100-experts-urging-governors-to-require-public-mask-wearing-138507?fbclid=IwAR1F3fS-wsAD8605JV66yyxx_TlRKJTuCSj1NL1v1sgDqch3LM8eqXizlk8

I’m a data scientist at the University of San Francisco and teach courses online in machine learning for fast.ai. In late March, I decided to use public mask-wearing as a case study to show my students how to combine and analyze diverse types of data and evidence.

Much to my surprise, I discovered that the evidence for wearing masks in public was very strong. It appeared that universal mask-wearing could be one of the most important tools in tackling the spread of COVID-19. Yet the people around me weren’t wearing masks and health organizations in the U.S. weren’t recommending their use.

I, along with 18 other experts from a variety of disciplines, conducted a review of the research on public mask-wearing as a tool to slow the spread SARS-CoV-2. We published a preprint of our paper on April 12 and it is now awaiting peer review at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since then, there have been many more reviews that support mask-wearing. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/resp.13834

On May 14, I and 100 of the world’s top academics released an open letter to all U.S. governors asking that “officials require cloth masks to be worn in all public places, such as stores, transportation systems, and public buildings.”

Currently, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone wears a mask – as do the governments covering 90% of the world’s population – but, so far, only 12 states in the U.S. require it. In the majority of the remaining states, the CDC recommendation has not been enough: Most people do not currently wear masks. However, things are changing fast. Every week more and more jurisdictions require mask use in public. As I write this, there are now 94 countries that have made this move. https://airtable.com/shreZdkFaYZqfpEqU/tbl5o6qUd54BL9wkw

So what is this evidence that has led myself and so many scientists to believe so strongly in masks?

The evidence

The research that first convinced me was a laser light-scattering experiment. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health used lasers to illuminate and count how many droplets of saliva were flung into the air by a person talking with and without a face mask. https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMc2007800 The paper was only recently published officially, but I saw a YouTube video showing the experiment in early March. The results are shockingly obvious in the video. When the researcher used a simple cloth face cover, nearly all the droplets were blocked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=UNHgQq0BGLI&feature=emb_title

This evidence is only relevant if COVID-19 is transmitted by droplets from a person’s mouth. It is. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2020/05/09/evidence-shows-covid-19-is-almost-exclusively-spread-by-droplets.html There are many documented super-spreading cases connected with activities – like singing in enclosed spaces – that create a lot of droplets.

The light-scattering experiment cannot see “micro-droplets” that are smaller than 5 microns and could contain some viral particles. But experts don’t think that these are responsible for much COVID-19 transmission.

While just how much of a role these small particles play in transmission remains to be seen, recent research suggests that cloth masks are also effective at reducing the spread of these smaller particles. In a paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed, researchers found that micro-droplets fell out of the air within 1.5 meters of the person who was wearing a mask, versus 5 meters for those not wearing masks. When combined with social distancing, this suggests that masks can effectively reduce transmission via micro-droplets.

Another recent study showed that unfitted surgical masks were 100% effective in blocking seasonal coronavirus in droplets ejected during breathing. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2

If only people with symptoms infected others, then only people with symptoms would need to wear masks. But experts have shown that people without symptoms pose a risk of infecting others. In fact, four recent studies show that nearly half of patients are infected by people who do not themselves have symptoms.

This evidence seems, to me, clear and simple: COVID-19 is spread by droplets. We can see directly that a piece of cloth blocks those droplets and the virus those droplets contain. People without symptoms who don’t even know they are sick are responsible for around half of the transmission of the virus.

We should all wear masks.

Against the tide

After going through all of this strong evidence in late March and early April, I wondered why mask-wearing was controversial amongst health organizations in the Western world. The U.S. and European CDCs did not recommend masks, and neither did nearly any western government except for Slovakia and Czechia, which both required masks in late March.

I think there were three key problems.

The first was that most researchers were looking at the wrong question – how well a mask protects the wearer from infection and not how well a mask prevents an infected person from spreading the virus. Masks function very differently as personal protective equipment (PPE) versus source control.

Masks are very good at blocking larger droplets and not nearly as good at blocking tiny particles. When a person expels droplets into the air, they quickly evaporate and shrink to become tiny airborne particles called droplet nuclei. These are extremely hard to remove from the air. However, in the moist atmosphere between a person’s mouth and their mask, it takes nearly a hundred times as long for a droplet to evaporate and shrink into a droplet nuclei.

This means that nearly any kind of simple cloth mask is great for source control. The mask creates humidity, this humidity prevents virus-containing droplets from turning into droplet nuclei, and this allows the fabric of the mask to block the droplets.

Unfortunately, nearly all of the research that was available at the start of this pandemic focused on mask efficacy as PPE. This measure is very important for protecting health care workers, but does not capture their value as source control. On Feb. 29, the U.S. surgeon general tweeted that masks “are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus.” This missed the key point: They are extremely effective at preventing its spread, as our review of the literature showed.

The second problem was that most medical researchers are used to judging interventions on the basis of randomized controlled trials. These are the foundation of evidence based medicine. However, it is impossible and unethical to test mask-wearing, hand-washing or social distancing during a pandemic.

Experts like Trisha Greenhalgh, the author of the best-selling textbook “How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Healthcare,” are now asking, “Is Covid-19 evidence-based medicine’s nemesis?” She and others are suggesting that when a simple experiment finds evidence to support an intervention and that intervention has a limited downside, policymakers should act before a randomized trial is done.

The third problem is that there is a shortage of medical masks around the world. Many policymakers were concerned that recommending face coverings for the public would lead to people hoarding medical masks. This led to seemingly contradictory guidance where the CDC said there was no reason for the public to wear masks but that masks needed to be saved for medical workers. The CDC has now clarified its stance and recommends the public use of homemade masks while saving higher-grade masks for medical professionals.

Results of mask-wearing

There are numerous studies that suggest if 80% of people wear a mask in public, then COVID-19 transmission could be halted. https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.07353 Until a vaccine or a cure for COVID-19 is discovered, cloth face masks might be the most important tool we currently have to fight the pandemic.

Given all of the laboratory and epidemiological evidence, the low cost of wearing masks – which can be made at home with no tools – and the potential to slow COVID-19 transmission with widescale use, policymakers should ensure that everyone wears a mask in public.

from https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/05/21/sean-mcvay-rams-have-three-good-rbs-still-deciding-how-many-carries-theyll-get/

McVay said that Malcolm Brown, Darrell Henderson and Cam Akers are all up to the task.

“We feel we’ve got three really good backs,” McVay said, via ESPN. “What does that mean in terms of the distribution of carries? I think that’s to be determined based on how things play themselves out and when we get a chance to actually compete in practice and in those live opportunities.”
McVay said his offense doesn’t need to identify one bell cow running back, but that he does feel good about the depth he has at the position.

“What we wanted to do was get a group that we felt really good about,” McVay said. “This enables us to say, ‘We’re not necessarily committed to any approach, it’s a feel for the flow of the game.’ But you’d like everybody to create a role for themselves, and we’ll see what ends up happening then.”

you guys remember Shaun Hill and Austin Davis starting at QB for the Rams? that’s why i’ll never take Jared Goff for granted pic.twitter.com/2FMCE6YRee

— Goff’s ball boy (@thisishowiwin) May 23, 2020

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/24/nfl-rams-right-tackle-havenstein-evans/

Right tackle is one of the most important position battles on the roster this offseason and will be decided in training camp – whenever it takes place. Right now, it’s hard to discern who the Rams will start on the right side of their line.

New offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell doesn’t know who it’ll be, but he has confidence in both Havenstein and Evans.

“As far as the tackles go, we’re incredibly lucky to have ‘Whit’ [Andrew Whitworth] over there on the left side. I know Jared [Goff] sleeps well at night knowing he’s got the big fella over there,” O’Connell said on a conference call with reporters. “But at the same time, that competition and those two guys over there at the right tackle spot, I personally just watching the tape and really studying those guys, I’ve got a ton of confidence in both of them. it’s going to be a great situation for us to have the depth there because the importance of both of those edges being firm and being something that we can have a lot of confidence in is huge.”

Happy birthday, @AaronDonald97! 🎂

No. 99 has been a force since entering the league. pic.twitter.com/txpPmum8z8

— NFL (@NFL) May 23, 2020

ProFootballTalk@ProFootballTalk
Russell Wilson wants Antonio Brown in Seattle, reports @JohnClaytonNFL

BGrisakDTR@bgrisakDTR
The Rams went from 80% 11 personnel to 58% nearly overnight last season. Will that trend continue in 2020?

Rams Brothers@RamsBrothers
Staley is onto something. Said yesterday that he really likes what Darious Williams showed in final few games last season, and says Troy Hill provides versatility. The numbers support that.

Troy Hill fans… prepare for the inevitable.

Doug Van Breemen@DVB66
@sackmaster91 played 8 years with the Rams. Way more than any other team. And only 3 with Pitt. He’s an all-time great Ram!

𝒥𝒾𝓂 𝐸𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉@Jim_Everett
#HornsUp 💪🏽The 90s Rams Brass did NOT appreciate or reward Kevin…but that doesn’t mean our #Ramily has to live out their error. Always a Ram!

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
Imagine not thinking someone who finished third all-time in sacks isn’t elite at his position? Couldn’t be us.

“He’s got command of all the positions in the defensive backfield” Staley said. “What’s awesome about him is he can play anywhere. He can play outside or inside or safety. So we can move him around if we need to.”

J.B. Long, from Rams DC Brandon Staley has big plans for Jalen Ramsey
https://www.therams.com/news/rams-dc-brandon-staley-has-big-plans-for-jalen-ramsey

…

Safety?

Why would a coach take an elite talent at one of the most important positions in sports and move him around to other positions?

Could be just to mess with opposing quarterbacks. Could be to maximize the speed in the back end, get more corners on the field, potentially if the Cardinals go four-wide.

My guess? George Kittle.

Ramsey has a history of matching with tight ends, and the top tight end in the game is going to be a twice-a-year problem for Staley and the Rams. Even with the investments San Francisco has made at wide receiver, Kittle remains their most troublesome target. Perhaps that’s where floating the idea of Ramsey as a “safety” comes in. After all, he’s the size of John Johnson, not Troy Hill.

…

“I think there’s a lot more in him than he’s shown in the NFL. I mean, he’s shown himself to be one of the premier guys. But I know there’s a lot more in him for him to showcase,” Staley said. “Certainly, looking for him to provide a lot of leadership and production in that defensive backfield.”

from https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/22/nfl-rams-jalen-ramsey-safety-brandon-staley/

What makes Ramsey unique is his versatility. He can play man or zone coverage, but he can also play outside cornerback or in the slot. Staley wants to utilize his position flexibility even more than that, though.

He says Ramsey can play anywhere in the secondary, including safety. Ramsey played safety for two years at Florida State before moving to cornerback, and not surprisingly, he succeeded at both spots.

“He’s got command of all the positions in the defensive backfield” Staley said. “What’s awesome about him is he can play anywhere. He can play outside or inside or safety. So we can move him around if we need to.”

from linebacker will be ‘an open competition’: https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2020/05/22/nfl-rams-brandon-staley-micah-kiser-linebacker-competition/

when the Rams do hit the field, it’s going to be “an open competition,” according to defensive coordinator Brandon Staley.

“I think it’s competitive. You’ve got to let things play out. Inside linebacker, in particular, there aren’t very many guys that have played a lot of football there, so that’s going to be an open competition,” Staley said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. “You’ve gotten glimpses of those guys. Troy Reeder, T-Howard and Kenny Young, you’ve gotten glimpses of them as pro players. I know we have high regard for Micah Kiser within our building. He had that unfortunate injury in the preseason. We’ve just got to let the position sort itself out when things go live.”

…

As for the outside linebacker spot, Staley didn’t share as many details. He did say that players such as Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Samson Ebukam, Jachai Polite, Natrez Patrick and Justin Lawler will be fighting for spots on defense. Staley also said he was excited to reunite with Leonard Floyd and add Terrell Lewis in the draft, both of whom fit the mold of his prototypical edge rusher.

“On the edge, excited to add Leonard and Terrell Lewis. And then you’ve got Obo and Samson, Jachai Polite, Natrez Patrick, Justin Lawler – those guys will be fighting for positions,” he said.