GETTY Quarterback John Skelton #19 and tight end Jim Dray #19 of the Arizona Cardinals walk off the field following the team training camp at Northern Arizona University on July 30, 2011 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Adjustments and restrictions have continued to be made as the NFL gears up for the 2020 season, and the latest change says they will be grounded when it comes to where they practice this summer.
ESPN reporter Adam Schefter tweeted out the news Tuesday, with the first report coming out of WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina after news that the Carolina Panthers would not be practicing in the area this summer.
And so the NFL has told all its teams that they must stay at their team facilities for this summer’s training camps.
The NFL and its respective teams are having to make quick adjustments thanks to the spread of COVID-19, which has shaken up the NFL schedule since shelter-in-place orders began across the country in March.
ESPN staff writer David Newton released this update early Tuesday afternoon before Schefter’s tweet.
The Panthers will not hold training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for the first time in team history dating back to 1995. A source told WSPA TV In Spartanburg the NFL soon will make an announcement that teams must remain at their own facilities for preseason camps that begin in late July.
Cowboys Not Heading to Oxnard
While Carolina will not be practicing at Wofford for the first time in their franchise history, one of the NFL’s most storied teams, the Dallas Cowboys, are also breaking a long streak, according to ESPN staff writer Todd Archer.
The Cowboys will not be heading to Oxnard, California, for training camp this summer with the league directing teams to remain at their own facilities because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to multiple sources. Last week coach Mike McCarthy said the staff was planning separate camp schedules for practices at The Star in Frisco, Texas, as well as Oxnard. Since 2012, the Cowboys have held camp in Oxnard. The league has not made a determination on when training camps will open.
As Archer mentions, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said the team was preparing for both outcomes, including one in which Dallas practices in Frisco, Texas.
“As a staff, we’re planning for a full training camp, and we’re also planning for a training camp in Oxnard; we’re planning for a training camp in Frisco,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “We spent an enormous amount of time in the planning phase because it is our first camp together. So we’re just trying to be ready for when the NFL and those big decisions are made that we’re not running around trying to adhere to a different schedule.”
Chiefs Not Practicing in St. Joseph’s for First Time Since 2010
The defending Super Bowl champs are no different, as the Kansas City Chiefs are now unable to go to their usual preparation grounds at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph, Missouri.
After defeating the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl LIV, the Chiefs will have to practice at Arrowhead Stadium’s practice facilities instead.
The Chiefs and Western had inked a three-year deal last year to keep the team coming to St. Joseph, but the NFL has declared that practicing at Missouri Western was not an option for 2020.
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Evan Reier is a sportswriter covering the San Francisco 49ers for Heavy.com and local sports for the Montana Standard in Butte, MT. Follow and reach out to him on Twitter at @evanreier.