While the NFL is still preparing for a full slate of regular season games, the ongoing situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has made many increasingly fearful that the NFL season will be in jeopardy.

At the very least, Packers CEO Mark Murphy realizes the dire nature of the situation, having recently stated that "Time is no longer on our side."

Here's a selection from Murphy's recent Packers.com column addressing the issue:

"With training camps set to start in less than a month and with COVID-19 showing no signs of slowing down, the Packers will have to make several difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Since the pandemic arrived earlier this year, NFL teams have had the benefit of time. Unlike professional basketball, hockey and baseball teams who were either in hte middle of their seasons or about to start, we were in the beginning of our offseason. NFL teams were able to handle free agency, the draft and their entire offseason programs virtually.

We've made decisions along the way, but the major ones we've been able to put off until we have more information. With so much uncertainty, it has made sense that we have not made decisions until we absolutely have to. As we near the start of training camp, though (rookies will start practice on July 21 and veterans on the 28th), time is no longer on our side."

The NFL has already cut the preseason, but the plan remains to have a full slate of regular season games, with most of the league allowing fans to be in attendance to some degree.

There's almost no chance the season will progress as the league is hoping right now. At the very least, it should be expected that there will be no fans in stadiums, anywhere. Already, the Buffalo BIlls announced last week there would be no fans at the stadium during the pandemic, and it's only a matter of time until other teams follow suit either of their own will or via NFL mandate.

From the league's perspective, all eyes are going to be on what happens with the NBA and MLB, which are slated to resume/begin their seasons shortly. If either or both ends up being a disaster, the NFL may decide the risk of going on with the season is not worth it. 

From the Packers' perspective, the more the season is put into jeopardy, the better the team's 2020 draft looks. The Packers drew the understandable ire of fans by mostly ignoring positions of need in the draft, especially with top selections. But if the 2020 season cannot happen due to the pandemic, a possibility that had to at least have some slight weight in the teams' draft plans this spring, suddenly the long-term approach doesn't look nearly as bad, especially with the drafting of Jordan Love.

Aaron Rodgers will play most of the season as a 36-year-old quarterback before turning 37 in December. A lost season is significant at this point in his career and his contract. If the Packers truly feel Love is Rodgers' successor, and if the 2020 season ends up not happening due to the virus, then the team may have managed to snag its next franchise quarterback while also not getting bitten by the gamble of going without a wide receiver or defensive line selection in the draft.

Ultimately, we all want football this year. A fall without Green Bay Packers football is unimaginable; it hasn't happened since 1918. But there is increasingly less reason for optimism given the current situation with the virus and its spikes across the nation. Mark Murphy certainly sees the window closing, and the NFL should at least abandon the notion that it will be able to pull of anything even remotely resembling "business as usual" with the 2020 season.