NEW YORK (AP) — NFL doctors and experts in heat-related illnesses have spoken with each NFL team on conference calls this week.
The calls always have been mandatory, but took on added importance in the wake of the 412-month lockout that ended Monday.
On the calls were NFL doctors Hunt Batjer and Richard Ellenbogen, who primarily addressed head injury issues. Also providing information to the 32 teams were Dr. Douglas Cava, chief scientist at the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut, and Dr. Margaret Kolka, former head of the Army’s environmental medicine division. Cava and Kolka spoke about heat-related injuries.
It was the first time Cava and Kolka were involved in the calls. There is added concern throughout the league about conditioning for players after offseason workouts and minicamps were eliminated by the work stoppage.
