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The Seattle Seahawks will begin their preseason schedule on Saturday, August 22 on the road against the Texans as the NFL eliminated half of the exhibition contests. According to Pro Football Talk, the NFL is canceling the first and fourth weeks of the preseason.
This means the Seahawks home game against the Raiders on August 13 as well as their road matchup versus the Vikings on September 3 will both be canceled. The Seahawks final preseason game will take place at home against the Chargers on August 27. Pro Football Talk reported that the NFL is expected to make an official announcement on Thursday, July 2.
The Seahawks 1st Preseason Game Will Now Be on August 22
The Seahawks are still expected to begin training camp on July 28 along with most NFL teams. This is all subject to change as the NFL reacts to COVID-19 which continues to spike in a large number of states.
The news comes less than a week after the NFL canceled the Hall of Fame game and postponed the enshrinement ceremony. Pro Football Talk detailed the two primary factors in eliminating the two preseason contests for 2020.
First, teams who will be playing preseason games on the road won’t want to move that many people. Second, given that no teams had on-field practice sessions in the offseason, coaches would rather have the extra time to work with their teams, and that will happen if they don’t have to worry about two extra preseason games.
As of now, the Seahawks are scheduled to start the regular season in Atlanta against the Falcons on Sunday, August 13. The NFL is already announcing changes to the schedule, and it will be worth monitoring to see if more alterations are ahead as the league takes steps to keeps teams as safe as possible given the pandemic.
Pete Carroll Estimated NFL Teams Need About 6 Weeks of Training Camp Practices Before the Season Begins
Earlier this offseason, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll discussed the minimum amount of time players need before the regular season begins. Carroll noted teams need at least six weeks of training camp. The recent changes mean the Seahawks now have a gap between their final preseason game on August 27 until their Week 1 matchup on September 13.
“That’s a really good question because that’s going to be a very big issue,” Carroll noted, per The News Tribune. “I know that our guys need six weeks of work to get rolling, and that’s what the league has always allowed us. A couple weeks, then four (preseason) games, it takes a full five, six weeks in camp. Without an intense offseason, with competition and guys working against each other and all of that, I don’t know. We’re going to have to just figure it out. We won’t know until after we see the results of what happens. Maybe we’ll start to see things happen, I don’t know.”
According to ESPN, the elimination of the two preseason games will give players more of an extended window to get into playing shape. Players have had a harder time sticking to their normal offseason routine given many workout facilities were shutdown for a period of time as well as COVID-19 making travel plans less than ideal.
This has not stopped at least some of the Seahawks players from putting in work. Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Bobby Wagner are just some of the players who have been part of workout videos that were shared online.
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