2023-07-29 01:28:01
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The sight of receivers Keith Kirkwood and Shaq Davis leaving practice early this week with heat-related symptoms was nothing new for the New Orleans Saints. The heat and humidity in the state of Louisiana have been a challenge for even the best prepared athletes.
However, the unrelenting and unprecedented heat in the United States this year has presented a greater than usual challenge to the opening of training camps, not only for the Saints, but for every other NFL team.
Scientists have calculated that this will be the hottest July on record. The southwest and parts of the south will feel the greatest impact.
Most of the center-north and east of the country have also been affected. That means NFL teams need to consider keeping their players safer than usual as they prepare for the start of the season in September.
Safety has been critical in spring training since the death of Minnesota offensive tackle Korey Stringer on Aug. 1, 2001, following he passed out and fell a day before the Vikings’ training camp began. NFL teams back then did not have medical personnel prepared for exertional heat stroke.
Some teams are taking extra precautions, like more hydration breaks and earlier practices.
“I don’t know all the science and all that stuff, but I try my best to understand,” Saints quarterback Derek Carr said. “I’ve seen the development, from when I first came to the league to what we’re talking regarding now. There is definitely a difference in the things we talk regarding, the way we train, the time we spend doing something… the time that accumulates training outside.”
Carr is in his first season in New Orleans, so he’s just getting used to the wet conditions. The last three seasons he has been with the Raiders in Las Vegas, where the air is dry, although the temperatures are higher.
For their part, the Raiders have started training at 8:30 am, to avoid the hottest hours of the day, but they still have to deal with high temperatures when they go out on the field.
Las Vegas has indoor facilities, but he usually trains outside because he has more space there and the fields are natural grass, instead of artificial.
There are coolers right at the 50-yard line near one of the three practice fields the players use, and coach Josh McDaniels said the team met to discuss how it will deal with the conditions.
McDaniels said the key was listening to medical professionals.
“They have a scientific way of measuring (weather and security conditions), which I’m not really prepared to talk intelligently regarding,” McDaniels acknowledged. “But I understand when they tell me that we entered a dangerous zone out there, with the helmets and all the equipment, and then we do the right thing.”
Two teams with warmer climates avoid training in the heat. The Arizona Cardinals use their retractable-roof stadium and the Dallas Cowboys hold their training camp in southern California, under more moderate conditions.
Other teams, particularly those in the hottest parts of the country, have to adjust to the weather.
“The health and safety of the players is the most important thing to our team and organization,” Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. “Whatever we can do to help our players in that regard, that’s the most important thing. It’s going to be hot everywhere we go, but you want to be smart.”
Caseiro said some players wear hoodies and long pants. Sweating allows “heat to leave your body. If you don’t, you can put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation.”
For the second year in a row, coach Ron Rivera scheduled the Washington Commanders’ 9 a.m. workouts as a way to beat the heat. A run of record temperatures last year contributed to several soft tissue injuries, so staff are taking extra measures this time around, from more water breaks to a cooling tent players are sent to if they start to feel the effects.
“We constantly want them to hydrate and focus on hydration before and following training,” Rivera said.
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