[ad_1]
The 49ers’ season saw a rebirth last week with a surprising victory over the division-leading Rams. For the San Francisco renaissance to continue through December, the team hopes to make the most of their time, at least the next three weeks, in a Phoenix-area Renaissance.
San Francisco is set to leave for Arizona on Wednesday, four days after learning that Santa Clara County, home to its stadium and team, had issued new COVID-related restrictions banning contact sports for three weeks. The 49ers announced Monday that they will play their Week 13 and Week 14 games against the Buffalo Bills and Washington soccer team, respectively, at State Farm Stadium, home of rivals Arizona Cardinals.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Tuesday that before and between these competitions, the 49ers will live and train within a several block radius in Glendale, Ariz.
“Our hotel will be our new Levi’s stadium,” said Shanahan. “When we’re done working people have to go back to their hotel rooms.”
This hotel, the Renaissance Hotel in Glendale, which is a stone’s throw from State Farm Stadium, will not be the site of a “bonding” experience, Shanahan explained; The coach noted to reporters that the last COVID-19 outbreak in San Francisco before Week 9 was the result of an out-of-office mix between players. The 49ers’ work trip out of state is also not a vacation or an excuse to get out in and around Glendale.
Shanahan noted that the team needs to be even more careful because, ironically, the rate of COVID infection in Maricopa County, Arizona is currently higher than that of Santa Clara County, California.
“We have to be smart,” Shanahan said, per CBS5 Arizona. “We don’t plan to go anywhere. “
Joining the 49ers when they’re not going anywhere, but their hotel and training ground in a Phoenix suburb will be their players in rehabilitation, like George Kittle and Jimmy Garoppolo, who aren’t returning to the field anytime soon – well that Shanahan has said he “is holding out for their two returns – but will be unable to readjust to the move from San Francisco to Santa Clara.”
Kittle and Garoppolo’s injuries are among the many injuries that appear to have sunk San Francisco’s season in mid-November, as the 4-6 49ers went on a three-game losing streak. But Sunday’s win over the Rams brought San Francisco back to a single playoff game with five games to go.
The reigning NFC champions, although they were taken apart and moved in 2020, are still alive.
“It’s easier to go through the grind,” Shanahan said, “when you have a chance to get into this tournament at the end.”
[ad_2]
Source link