There has still been no final announcement of all the rules and protocols teams and players will follow for 2020 as the NFL tries to prepare for a season while the coronavirus is an issue. But Monday, the two sides -- based on reports from a host of outlets -- made significant headway with rookies scheduled to report sometime this week and full rosters supposed to report July 28.

The biggest news is that the league has apparently acquiesced to the players' desire to remove preseason games from the schedule. Originally, news leaked that the preseason would be shaved from four to two games, then came a report that the league asked to have one game, and then Monday, it was reported the league was offering zero preseason games to the NFLPA. It was one of the major hurdles the sides were working on. Again, there has been no official announcement.

Earlier in the day, the sides reportedly came to terms on how testing would unfold, which includes daily testing for Tier 1 personnel (players and coaches, for example) and Tier 2 (other staff who will have interaction with players and coaches) the first two weeks of training camp. Also part of the testing process: Players will be tested for COVID-19 on their initial visit and and then sent home to quarantine for two days, and then return for a second test. If both tests are negative, they can start coming to the building.

The final agreement also could have a longer ramp-up acclimation/conditioning time for players prior to actual padded practice in camp, perhaps as long as three weeks.

But there are still economic issues being discussed. As they like to say, nothing is done until it is done. It does seem like the sides are headed in the right direction.