Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Home opener pushed back
Buccaneers game will be made up Nov. 19
Hurricane Irma has forced the Miami Dolphins’ season opener against Tampa Bay to be postponed until Nov. 19, the bye week for both teams. The game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Dolphins were originally scheduled to play at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. That option was scratched Tuesday when the NFL announced the game wouldn’t be played at that time and location.
There also was consideration of playing the game at a neutral site on Sunday, but the league decided to move the game to Week 11 instead.
Coach Adam Gase canceled practice for the rest of the week, presumably so players and their families can get prepared for Hurricane Irma.
The Dolphins have even taken the precautionary step of deflating their indoor practice bubble, something they didn’t do last year in the face of the threat of Hurricane Matthew. The Dolphins have also removed the tarp that kept fans shaded at practices during training camp.
The postponement allows the Dolphins to preserve their seven home games at Hard Rock Stadium this season. The Dolphins have seven home games instead of eight because they agreed to move their Oct. 1 home game against New Orleans to London as part of a requirement for securing Super Bowl LIV in 2020. That resolution, passed in 2014, states Super Bowl hosts must host an international game within five years of being awarded the Super Bowl.
The postponement also means the Dol-
phins now must play 16 consecutive games without a bye week, an idea that caused some players to bristle Tuesday.
“Sixteen straight?” wide receiver Jarvis Landry said. “It’s a long season. Let’s be honest about it, the stretch after our bye week is one of the toughest, if you want to be real about it, it’s probably the toughest in the NFL. That bye week could give us an opportunity to get guys healthy.
“In this league you’re going to get banged up week in and week out, so that bye week for us comes at an appropriate time. To keep it there would be huge, but I know this is an unfortunate situation and it’s out of our hands.”
Linebacker Kiko Alonso agreed with Landry but was a bit more diplomatic.
“Obviously that would be unfavorable,” he said, “but we’re here to play and whenever they say we’re going to play, we’ll be ready.”
Tampa Bay defensive tackle Chris Baker tweeted his displeasure Wednesday morning, saying:
“Dear @NFL @NFLPA the players are not interested in playing 16 straight weeks #PLAYERSAFETY THIS IS CRAZY”
Focusing on Irma
The Dolphins have shifted their Hurricane Harvey relief efforts into a Hurricane Irma relief drive.
The Dolphins have offered Hard Rock Stadium as a staging area, if necessary, for Miami-Dade County for distribution of relief supplies. Details will be provided by MiamiDade County when they become available.
As part of the Hurricane Irma focus, Hard Rock Stadium will be closed to the public and won’t accept drop-off donations for Hurricane Harvey.