Dallas Cowboys not requiring masks at headquarters, planning to return camp to Oxnard

The Dallas Cowboys are no longer doing temperature checks and requiring masks at the team’s headquarters, The Star, in Frisco.

The move comes one day after the CDC updated its guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and announced that fully-vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks outdoors or in most indoor settings.

The NFL issued a similiar memoradum to all teams Friday, saying that anybody who is 14 dats removed from having received their final shot under the one- or two-dose regimen is no longer required to wear a face covering while at any team or league facility.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones applauds the aggressive push to return to normalcy.

“What you are going to see is a huge push to vaccinate rewarded by more freedom,” Jones said on the first day of Cowboys rookie mini camp at The Star on Friday.

It was notable that Jones walked off the field and talked to the media during practice for the first time in more than a year.

“If everybody was vaccinated you can be in the middle of drills ... if those people have been vaccinated they don’t have to have masks,” Jones continued. “Again, it’s going to be harder to move around here if you haven’t been vaccinated.”

The players and staff members still have to follow NFL protocols and guidelines that still require masks and testing.

Jones’ return to normalcy also includes a plan to return to Oxnard, California, for training camp in July after holding camp at The Star last summer under the league’s COVID regulations.

“We got a few details to work out with each of the different constituents but I would say systems are on go,” Jones said. “We don’t think there is any issue doing what we need to do for the league. The best way to say is ‘it’s on go’.”

Jones said the Cowboys plan to have fans in the stands at training camp in Oxnard as they have done in past years.

“We are working through it,” Jones said. “One of the most exciting things about it is the fans. I would like that not to be an issue. I think we are going to be satisfied with what we do out there.”

Last week, the NFL informed teams they will be allowed to conduct training camp away from their team facilities if they so choose, but must prepare and submit a full infectious disease emergency response (IDER) plan to the league.

The IDER plan must demonstrate how the club will comply with the existing NFL-NFLPA COVID-19 protocols at their proposed alternative locations, including any and all hotels/transportation involved.

These plans are expected to include details on all air flow/filtration systems that will be utilized in the alternative location.