Jaguars to adjust practice schedule due to Hurricane Dorian
The same week Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has to prepare his team to face 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, his focus has to also be on Hurricane Dorian, which will change the team’s workweek.
As the hurricane makes it way to touching down in Florida, Marrone said the Jaguars’ practice schedule heading into Sunday would change, adding another twist to preparations. The team will not practice the following two days, he said.
"We’re going to make sure everyone is safe and get them out after today," Marrone told media Monday. "Everyone is tracking the storm. Hopefully everyone is listening to the instructions that the officials are giving everyone. We’re making sure the team understands that. We won’t practice tomorrow. We won’t practice Wednesday. Weather-permitting and safety-permitting, we’ll bring the team back Thursday at noon. Those are the plans that we have."
This not Marrone's first time leading the Jaguars into week one in the midst of an impending hurricane. In 2017, the team traveled back to Jacksonville following a week one victory over the Houston Texans, and they returned to a community hit hard by the storm. Marrone said he also had to deal with similar situations while coaching with the Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints, and he thinks those experiences can help him plan out the best path for the Jaguars this week.
"I think the thing I’ve learned over the years, you learn how many different situations there are and how many different problems. You have to understand that the way you think or the way your problems are is not the same problems as somebody else," Marrone said. "You’ve got to keep yourself open to it. I think you get better at it."
Marrone said he is not sure if others Jaguars brass has had discussions with the league about moving Sunday's game to another city or day, but he knows the NFL is tracking the situation regardless of whether there are official talks.
While missing two days of practice leading up to facing off against one of the league's most lethal offenses is far from ideal, Marrone said he does not view this week as missing time. Instead, the team will be able to adjust appropriately because they have been through it before and they have already done a heavy amount of preparation.
“I don’t look at it as losing a practice day. We’re going to be able to, as of right now if everything remains the same with the way the schedule is, we’ll have our work in," he said.
"I’m not concerned about that. Like I said, I’ve been through this a couple of times already.”
