Jaguars cancel practice, help players evacuate ahead of hurricane

The Jacksonville Jaguars canceled Wednesday's practice and are working to make sure players and staff are safe as Hurricane Dorian approaches the Florida coast. Coach Doug Marrone told reporters on Monday that he is focused on helping those who live in evacuation areas to find safe housing.

"People who have been through this before know that things can change and you have to be ready," said Marrone, whose family must evacuate. "And we will be. There's been a lot of discussions about a lot of different things. I think the first thing was, the priority was, to make sure everyone's safe and have a plan and then once we know that everyone is safe and has a plan of what they're doing, then I think we'll just take things as they come." After battering the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm on Sunday, the slow-moving Hurricane Dorian is headed toward Florida as a Category 4. The track of the storm isn't certain, and when it approaches the region late Tuesday, it either could skirt the Jacksonville area or make a devastating impact.

The storm is expected to be out of the Jacksonville area by Wednesday night, and practice is scheduled for Thursday. "First and foremost our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone to make sure everyone's safe and everyone has a plan," Marrone said. "... Hopefully, weather permitting and safety permitting, we'll bring the team back Thursday at noon. We feel good about our plans for the players and the safety for our players."

The Jaguars open the season Sunday at home against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Marrone said a lot of the game preparation has been accomplished. "... Most of the work is done, which is not to say, 'If there's ever a good time (for this to happen),' but obviously in the beginning you have a chance to have more done than obviously if something happened during the middle of a season," he said.

 

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