Thursday Cheese Curds: Happy NFL Schedule Release Day!

Football is still on, but that could change very quickly.

With the fate of the 2020 NFL season still very much up in the air, the league will still release the schedule this evening as if a full season will be played.

That said, multiple reports indicate the schedules are designed to be easily reduced should the COVID-19 pandemic continue to keep states at least partially shut down going into the fall.

With a full schedule coming tonight, it will be good for fans’ mental health to see a full slate of games even if they may not all actually take place. It’s looking likely at least the first few games will be played without fans in the stands but strange football would be better than no football.

As for the Packers, being a team located in the middle of the country could potentially mean some weird travel arrangements should the team need to be in isolation for any amount of time. With trips to both coasts, the logistics for Green Bay could be challenging.

On a positive note, it looks like games will be played in clusters with divisional opponents all being played consecutively at two different points on the schedule as well as consecutive weeks against the same division (Weeks 1-4 against the NFC South for example). That will definitely create some challenges for the coaching staff but creating a schedule in this strange environment demands flexibility and lumping games together like that gives the league the ability to trim the schedule without also having to rearrange it.

We don’t know what the Packers final schedule will look like and this unusual time may make leaks harder to come by, but keep it here at APC as we prepare against all odds for the 2020 season.

Here are today’s curds.

Packers’ 2020 schedule to be announced Thursday—Packers.com

Games in San Francisco, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Houston are the furthest the Packers will have to travel from Lambeau Field. Any kind of isolation would be tricky depending on how the schedule is made.

Packers might start 2020 season with 4 straight games against AFC South—Packers Wire

No divisional games until at least Week 5 would be a weird adjustment to make, but this would also keep all divisional games on the docket in a reduced schedule which is big in terms of traditions like the Packers and Bears’ rivalry. (UPDATE: per Rob Demovsky, this isn't going to happen).

Family factors drive A.J. Dillon’s determination to run with ‘a chip on my shoulder’—PackersNews.com (subscription required)

While we at APC strongly disagree with drafting a running back early, the Packers seem to least have gotten a great kid in A.J. Dillion, whose story will probably have you reaching for the Kleenex.

Memo sent to teams for path to reopening facilities—NFL.com

Worth noting here for those outside of Wisconsin is that Brown county is one of the hottest spots in the state right now thanks to an outbreak at a meat processing facility. That will likely put the Packers as one of the last to open their facilities.

‘Darth Vader’ Enforces Coronavirus Lockdown In Philippines Villages—Huffington Post

He finds your lack of social distancing disturbing while also providing critical supplies.