Football players on Long Island, including former Giant Jake Carlock, try to stay in shape for an uncertain future

Jake Carlock wanted to be in Miami at this point.

Carlock, a Babylon product who spent time on the Giants' and Dolphins' practice squads last season, had hoped to head south. He signed a contract with the Dolphins in January, hopes to win the job as the team’s long snapper for the upcoming season, and figured he would spend some time in the facility before the start of the offseason training program in mid-April. It would allow him to get some facetime with the coaches, put in some work with his new teammates and get used to the weather.

“Obviously,” he said, “that’s all on hold.”

The spread of the coronavirus and the efforts to minimize its impact have disrupted just about every facet of every life on Long Island, and football players are no exception. While the pandemic has yet to impact their regular season in terms of cancellations, it is altering the ways in which they are preparing for the upcoming campaign.

Perhaps no sport relies as much on carefully orchestrated scheduling and a reliance on routine, with practices and meetings timed down to the second and the calendar set in place months in advance. So when all of that gets dismantled in a matter of weeks or even days, it’s an especially jarring experience.

“I got one email and our performance coach reached out to say hang tight, stay by the phone, they were still trying to figure things out,” Carlock said.

The Dolphins players were supposed to arrive for voluntary workouts on April 20. “As of now, it’s obviously postponed,” he said, “but by the looks of things, I don’t know what the heck is going to happen.”

For about two hours on Friday morning, though, it was football season on Long Island.

At Allen Park in Farmingdale, a handful of players at various levels of their developments and careers — from small-college hopeful to former Super Bowl champion — were able to capture a bit or normalcy at a time when they face nothing but uncertainty. They stretched, they ran, they strained. They threw passes and caught them. It would have been hard to know that the world beyond that patch of turf had been rocked off its axis in the preceding days were it not for the fact that the oasis was sandwiched between reminders of a new reality.

First they were stopped at the perimeter of a nearby shuttered-up school, were turned away from the field they initially intended to use and were sent elsewhere because of a policy change that took effect the previous night. Then, after diverting to Allen Park and taking care of their workout, there were no handshakes or high-fives or bro hugs. Just some waves, one or two elbow taps and a see-ya-later.

Maybe.

“We’re trying to do our part to make sure this thing doesn’t spread anymore,” said Warren Kelly, who owns East Coast Strength and Performance in Farmingdale and has been training the NFLers most of the offseason.

At first, that meant gathering in the gym to lift and get stronger. But the ability to do that came crashing down rather quickly. So they moved outside, working in small groups like the one that showed up on Friday.  It’s unclear how much longer those gatherings will be allowed.

“Everybody is going through it,” said Tom Kennedy, a wide receiver for the Lions who is getting ready for his second season of pro football. “It’s a strange time, not just for everybody in the sports world but for everybody in the world. It’s not just us, it’s everybody.”

On Friday, though, they got the green light. Kennedy and Chris Hogan, a former Patriots and Panthers wide receiver who currently is a free agent, ran out for passes along with Jason Carlock, Jake’s younger brother, who is going into his senior year as a wide receiver at Cortland. Throwing the passes were Ray Catapano, the former Thorp Award winner at Carey High School who played at Southern Connecticut, and Tommy Heuer, a quarterback at Cortland from Oceanside and another Thorp Award winner.

Hogan, the most decorated of the bunch, took charge of the routes and plays that were run. He is not from Long Island, but his wife, Ashley, is. The couple lives in Huntington.

“It’s cool having a veteran like Chris be around and help guide them in the right direction with on-the-field and off-the-field stuff,” Kelly said. “It’s a good group of guys.”

Off to the side, Jake Carlock spun snap after snap to imaginary punters and holders. At the very end of the workout, the three NFL-level players came together for a few special teams reps. Carlock snapped to Hogan. Hogan, who was the emergency punter in New England (under new Giants coach and former Patriots special teams coordinator Joe Judge), kicked it to Kennedy. Kennedy sharpened his skills as a punt returner.

The challenges for all of the players are numerous. In an age when just about every gym is closed, even finding a place to lift can be a struggle.

“Mostly just going to places we’re allowed to be at,” Kennedy said. “Being smart, being safe. That’s pretty much what it’s been.”

The Carlocks have gone full-blown “Rocky IV” old school in their training.

“I’ve been kind of going back to my high school roots,” Jake Carlock said, describing workouts in the family basement with the music blasting.

Another obstacle is that none of them has a secure place on an NFL team. For Hogan, who was sidelined with a knee injury most of the 2019 season, it’s difficult to negotiate or sign with a team without a face-to-face meeting or a physical examination. For Kennedy and Carlock, they are losing valuable time in which they could have used the offseason training programs beginning in April to start making their cases for a final roster spot.

“I learned a lot my first year, which is really helpful,” said Kennedy, who is the only player ever to play in both the NFL and Major League Lacrosse. “I was talking to Chris earlier. I’m glad it’s not my first year this year. At least I have one year under my belt, so I definitely learned a lot.”

Those are lessons he can reflect on now as he adjusts his program and tries to adapt to a new reality. Because at a time when many on Long Island are being asked to work from home, the professional football players among us are obliging as best they can.

“As athletes, that’s our job to stay healthy and stay in shape,” Hogan said. “During this time we’re just trying to do the best that we can. It’s not easy and we’re trying to be as responsible as possible. Coming out here, we’re trying to not be in close contact with people and trying to be socially responsible. If we’re able to get out here for an hour or two hours on the field, at least we know we’re trying to keep ourselves as prepared as possible. At the end of the day, that’s our job.”

And they’re doing it with as much uncertainty as everyone else.

“I’ll be ready when the season starts,” Jake Carlock said with confidence.

“Whenever that is,” he added with just a bit less.

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.