After Irma, Dolphins back to football on California coast

Bucs back on job, preparing for delayed season opener Ban heads IOC ethics amid ongoing probes

OXNARD, California, Sept 14, (AP): The Miami Dolphins hit the practice fields Wednesday for the first time in a week, working out under cloudless blue skies in humidity-free California weather.

Hurricane Irma and its devastation to South Florida seem a world away, but the Dolphins are still thinking about home while they make an unexpected road trip.

The Dolphins are spending the week up the Southern California coast from Los Angeles after leaving Miami several days early to avoid the hurricane. Their home opener against Tampa Bay was postponed by the storm, so they will begin their regular season Sunday against the Chargers.

“I’ve been watching film the last couple of days, and we’ve had our first couple of meetings already,” defensive end Ndamukong Suh said. “So really, it’s just having an opportunity to take my mind off a little bit of what’s going on back home in Florida and focus on what’s important out here, and then obviously we’re not worried about football and taking care of that stuff. Obviously the real world hits hard, but it is part of life.”

The Dolphins’ rapid relocation came together quickly when Irma presented a clear threat to the Miami area. Dolphins owner Stephen Ross chartered a jet to fly players, team personnel and their families across the country last Friday night.

Receiver Jarvis Landry was on the plane with his daughter, Joy.

“It was a loud flight,” he said with a laugh. “But it was good to have an opportunity for everybody to get their families out and get to safety.”

Other players and coaches have arrived in California over the past three days, with the final players getting into town Tuesday in time for a full week of practice. The Dolphins are headquartered at the hotel and practice fields used by the Dallas Cowboys for training camp.

Dolphins coach Adam Gase left South Florida last week when it became clear the hurricane was coming. He said he doesn’t know whether his home was damaged: “I haven’t asked.”

“I’m not really worried about this group,” added Gase, who arrived in Los Angeles on Saturday. “They’ve been through a lot over the last year and a half with some of the challenges they met. And going into this year, everything hasn’t always been smooth. But these guys, they battle and they fight, and they handle adversity as good as anybody I’ve been around.”

Indeed, the Dolphins have done long trips before: They spent a week north of San Diego last season in between games against the Rams and the Chargers. The Rams helped out with the Dolphins’ relocation this week, sending over IT experts and other personnel to help the Dolphins get settled.

Center Mike Pouncey went to Pittsburgh to visit his twin brother, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey, while the hurricane bore down on Miami. The Pro Bowl center got out to California in plenty of time to prepare for his first game since early last season, which lasted just five games due to a hip injury.

Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back to work following a six-day, Hurricane Irma-imposed layoff that delayed the start to their season.

“Obviously, it’s great to get back to thinking a little bit about football,” coach Dirk Koetter said Wednesday after the team’s first full practice since last week, when the NFL postponed last Sunday’s season opener at Miami because of the storm.

“We know that a lot of people got it worse than we did, and we were very fortunate here to have as little misfortune in this area as we did in some other parts of the state and the region,” Koetter said. “We’re thinking about those people. We are thinking about those still hurting (and) still inconvenienced. But at the same time, it’s good to get back to football.”

With the scheduled opener against the Dolphins pushed back to Nov. 19, players scattered across the country for their bye week after a workout last Wednesday.

They returned, some after long car trips that began the previous day, late Tuesday for a walk-through practice at One Buccaneer Place.

“This early in the season we have never taken this many days off. I didn’t have a great feel for what it was going to look like out there today,” Koetter said.

“We had 64 plays that we got in last night in walkthrough,” the coach added. “I thought we got them at least talking about football again and thinking about football a little bit.”

Preparation for Sunday’s home game against Chicago began in earnest Wednesday with just the third full practice the Bucs have had since the end of the preseason on Aug. 31.

Fourteen seasons in the NFL have taught Eli Manning not to make too much of one game.

Sure, the New York Giants’ offense was pathetic in a season-opening 19-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

The statistics screamed bad game: three points, 233 total yards, 35 on the ground, 53 total plays, just under 26 minutes of possession, three sacks. It was awful, and even missing leading receiver Odell Beckham Jr. with a sprained ankle was no excuse for such a performance.

There was blame to go around a couple of times, from the offensive line to the wideouts who could not get open.

Manning was quick to answer when asked if he was worried about the offense, which also struggled last season despite an 11-5 record.

“First game,” the two-time Super Bowl MVP said. “Guys were playing fast, got some good guys out there, some new bodies. So, we’ll bounce back. We’ll be fine. We just have to slow down, everybody take a breath and just run the plays the way we’ve been running them all spring and all summer.”

Manning said the Cowboys had some new wrinkles for the game. The defensive backs divided the field into quarters, a scheme he said he had never seen from a Rod Marinelli defense.

Buffalo Bills Mike Tolbert (35) celebrates with teammate Jordan Matthews (87) after scoring a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York

Jets, on Sept 10, in Orchard Park, New York. (AP)