Teams wondering if they can travel day of game

Poe the Raven

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Mar 16, 2019
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Heading into a season of uncertainty, the NFL has to accept that flexibility will be mandatory.

That could extend to travel, and some long-held league policies.

Via Peter King of NBC’s Football Morning In America, a number of teams are wondering if they can adjust their flight schedules to depart their cities the day of games.

As it stands now, league rules require teams to fly out the day before a game, to make sure weather or other delays don’t put a game in jeopardy. But if teams believe they’re in more jeopardy by adding a layer of catered meals and hotel stays and bus rides to their socially distanced lives, it could be smart to bend that rule.

Obviously for longer trips it wouldn’t make sense, but for flights under two hours, it’s seems reasonable. And teams with their own planes (like the Patriots) could do it easily.

Using the Ravens schedule as an example, they could ostensibly leave the same day for seven of their eight road games.

They can already avoid getting on an airplane from Sept. 21 to Nov. 7, since they have three home games, a bye, and two quick road trips. Those trips are 31 miles away to Washington and 106 miles to Philadelphia, making them bus trips to begin with.

But they have five road trips in the last nine weeks of the season, the longest flight of which is to Indianapolis (82 minutes), along with New England (52 minutes), Pittsburgh (38 minutes), Cleveland (54 minutes), and Cincinnati (71 minutes).

Only their Week Two trip to Houston would be beyond an hour and a half in the air, so the Ravens could easily justify an early wakeup call and a quick flight the morning of a game. Especially since three of those road trips are for night games (at New England, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland), the travel component could be easily managed.

Of course, weather late in the year could always complicate that, but that’s the kind of thing that could be planned for. Whether the league’s willing to allow it remains to be seen, but reducing overnight stays in strange environments seems like a smart option.
 
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