Hurricane Ian: Tampa Bay Buccaneers moving practices to Miami Gardens to escape storm

Luke Easterling
·2 min read
Tropical Storm Ian's path, as of the 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center.
Tropical Storm Ian's path, as of the 5 p.m. update from the National Hurricane Center.

First, the New England Patriots shifted practice to Palm Beach County to adjust to the heat and humidity while preparing for the NFL season opener against the Dolphins.

Now, a different weather phenomena is chasing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to South Florida.

As Hurricane Ian continues to trek closer to the Tampa Bay area, the Buccaneers are moving their practices to the Dolphins facilities at Miami's Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens for the week, per multiple reports.

The Dolphins play at Cincinnati on Thursday night. They will have a walk-through practice Tuesday and have stretch and individual drills only on Wednesday morning before flying out. There is no practice on Friday, which is normal the day after a game and the team will have the weekend off.

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The Bucs, who lost to the Packers on Sunday, could practice at the Hard Rock Stadium facility Wednesday afternoon through Saturday.

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles told the media Monday that the team had already been in discussions with the NFL regarding possible contingency plans for the week, including the potential for having to move Sunday night’s home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The team is expected to travel to Miami on Tuesday, which is normally the players’ off day.

"I don't think that anyone's really prepared for this," Bucs quarterback Tom Brady said Monday on his "Let's Go!" podcast. "I know I've been preparing all morning and get all my stuff outside, try to put it inside, try to get all the stuff on the ground level up a little bit higher. I'm right here on the bay, so they're talking about pretty high storm surges and it's a scary thing. I will say that it's a scary thing when it really hits your doorstep."

Hurricane Ian is not expected to affect the weather in South Florida as it moves up the west coast of the state. It is predicted to make landfall somewhere in the Tampa Bay area.

The National Hurricane Center on Monday evening placed Tampa Bay under a hurricane warning and a storm surge warning, which means hurricane conditions are expected to effect the area in the next 24 to 36 hours. Tampa Bay remained firmly in the storm’s forecast cone as of the last update at 5 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Hurricane Ian chases Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Miami Dolphins facility