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- Mar 20, 2019
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NFL teams sometimes give themselves more time on the road than they actually need, by flying to a Sunday game site on Friday, or West Coast teams staying on the East Coast for a week in between two East Coast road games. This year, the league doesn’t want teams doing that.
The NFL, under the theory that teams are more equipped to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak in their home facilities than on the road, is strongly urging teams not to stay on the road between two games, and not to arrive two days before road games, according to Peter King in this week’s Football Morning in America.
So when the 49ers play at the Jets in Week Two and at the Giants in Week Three, they’ll be told to travel home between games, rather than simply stay in the New York area for the week to avoid two cross-country trips. And West Coast teams playing 1 p.m. Sunday kickoffs on the East Coast often fly to their game sites on Fridays to give themselves more time to acclimate to the time change, but they’ll be told to travel on Saturdays this year.
This would likely be opposed by some West Coast coaches, who often say they already have a disadvantage in having to travel East. But if extra time in an unfamiliar hotel would make it more likely to result in an outbreak on a team, that’s a change the league should make.