Hurricane Ida slammed the state of Louisiana this weekend, resulting in widespread power outages and extensive flooding in and around the New Orleans metropolitan area. Although the storm certainly had far more serious ramifications, it will also impact the start of the 2021 season for the New Orleans Saints.
Sean Payton revealed on Tuesday that his team is planning to be away from their home city for quite some time as a result of the widespread damage caused by Ida, according to Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com. The Saints head coach said that the club expects to be out of New Orleans for approximately the first quarter of the NFL regular season.
Payton’s news will impact the organization almost right away as the team had planned to open up the year on Sept. 12 against the Green Bay Packers at home in the newly named Caesars Superdome. The game will likely move to Lambeau Field in Wisconsin, but no official decision has been made just yet.
After the Saints open the year against the Packers, they’ll be on the road for two straight weeks against the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots. Ideally, they’ll be back in New Orleans for their Week 4 game against the New York Giants, but team leadership won’t have a clearer picture until things calm down in the city.
The Saints will need to practice and gameplan elsewhere during the recovery, which will be tremendously difficult on the players and the coaches. Payton provided no further details on the team’s plan at this time, but Duncan provided additional context on what the organization is thinking.
“The Saints are leaning toward staying in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the next month weeks and practicing at either SMU or TCU Team could possibly play home games at AT&T Stadium,” Duncan wrote on Twitter. “Officials are still working on logistics. A lot of moving parts involved so situation is fluid.”
Sean Payton said the Saints are planning to be away from New Orleans for the first quarter of the NFL season and will adjust accordingly.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) August 31, 2021
The Saints are leaning toward staying in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the next month weeks and practicing at either SMU or TCU Team could possibly play home games at AT&T Stadium. Officials are still working on logistics. A lot of moving parts involved so situation is fluid.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) August 31, 2021
Obviously the news is disheartening for Saints fans to hear, especially during a difficult time in Louisiana. Hopefully, the city of New Orleans can recover as quickly as possible and the Saints will be back in the Caesars Superdome in no time.
The post Sean Payton Reveals Team’s Plan For Opening Month appeared first on The Spun.
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