As Ian strikes, Bucs move in with Fish
The Buccaneers, who moved their football operations to South Florida to avoid Hurricane Ian, remain hopeful they will be able to return home to play the Chiefs on Sunday night.
The team practiced at the Dolphins’ training facility on Wednesday, describing the experience as different, but insisting the disruption to their routine will not hinder their ability to prepare for the team they beat in the Super Bowl two seasons ago.
Family members, and even some pets, accompanied players and coaches in relocating ahead of the storm making landfall on Florida’s west coast.
“The biggest challenge, I think we’ve already cleared, is just keeping their families safe. Everyone’s loved ones are safe, and that’s No. 1. Houses, and the monetary things, you don’t really worry about. If the family’s safe, you can kind of concentrate on football,” coach Todd Bowles said.
“What we do is really small entertainment for people who go through a lot of rough things, and hopefully we can provide that,” Bowles added via a Zoom call from the Dolphins’ complex in Miami Gardens. “But it’s bigger than just a football team.”
NFL executive Jeff Miller said Wednesday that the game was still scheduled to be played in Tampa on Sunday night.
If the teams can’t play at
Raymond James Stadium — a decision that could be made as late as Friday — the much-anticipated matchup between quarterbacks Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes will be moved to Minneapolis.
This is not the first time the Bucs have evacuated players and families with a hurricane approaching.
Hurricane Irma forced postponement of a Week 1 matchup against the Dolphins in 2017, when the Bucs flew some players and their families to Charlotte to wait out the storm.
GARRETT RESTS AFTER CRASH
For the first time, the Browns didn’t mind that Myles Garrett wasn’t with them on the field.
The All-Pro defensive end stayed home to rest and recover Wednesday from injuries suffered in a single-car crash as his status for the Browns’ game on Sunday at Atlanta remains in doubt.
Garrett was not at the team’s facility two days after he flipped his Porsche when he veered off a rural road near his home following practice. He suffered a sprained shoulder, strained biceps, cuts and bruises in the wreck.
“Very, very grateful that he’s OK,” said Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who has spoken to Garrett.
After rolling his car, Garrett was hospitalized for several hours. Bodycam footage from the Medina County Sheriff’s Office showed him looking dazed while being treated by medical personnel as he sat on the ground near his badly damaged and overturned vehicle.
The team said Garrett cleared concussion protocol.
Stefanski expects Garrett to return today and didn’t rule out the possibility of him practicing. As for Sunday’s game, Stefanski said Garrett will be evaluated by team doctors who will consider his physical and emotional states before clearing him.
“You take everything into account,” Stefanski said. “But I think like we do with anything, it’s case-by-case basis and really I’ve spoken to him, but get to have him in the building tomorrow and talk more in-depth.”
HOYER IN IF MAC CAN’T GO
If Mac Jones can’t play Sunday for the Patriots’ visit to Green Bay, veteran backup quarterback Brian Hoyer will start in his place.
But Bill Belichick is still leaving open the possibility that his second-year quarterback will be ready to go.
That’s about as much as the Patriots coach was wiling to share about the status of the left leg injury that’s left Jones in danger of missing the first start of his career.
“Definitely getting better,” Belichick said of Jones. “Made a lot of progress here in the last 48 hours. So keep plugging away and taking it day by day and see how it goes.”
Jones was not present during the portion of practice open to reporters on Wednesday. Belichick also declined to confirm whether Jones’ injury was a high ankle sprain,
“What do I look like, a doctor? An orthopedic surgeon? Like, I don’t know. Talk to the medical experts,” he said.
BOSA ON INJURED RESERVE
The Chargers placed outside linebacker Joey Bosa on injured reserve with a torn groin on Wednesday.
He will undergo surgery and coach Brandon Staley said he is hopeful Bosa can return at some point later in the season.
Bosa tore his groin during the first quarter of last Sunday’s 38-10 loss to the Jaguars.
“He’s in a really good frame of mind. It’s never easy when you have an injury like that, because he was playing so well, but good news on that front is that it wouldn’t be a season-ender,” Staley said.
Bosa, who is in his seventh season, was expected to team up with Khalil Mack to form one of the top pass rushing duos in the league.