The NFL will prohibit mandatory local bubbles during the playoffs, but will allow teams to house players in a hotel on a voluntary basis.

The league's infection rates dropped significantly this month after the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to place each team in "intensive protocols" that limit in-person meetings and require higher levels of mask use, and ultimately both parties decided that the existing protocols were a safer choice.

Some teams have been offering voluntary hotel accommodations during the season for players and coaches who are concerned they could be infected by family members or other people they live with. In the postseason, players and coaches who do stay at a team-sponsored hotel will be required to wear electronic tracking devices.