NFL asks for training camps at team facilities, Cardinals to stay in Tempe

All 32 NFL teams have been told by commissioner Roger Goodell to hold training camps at their home facilities this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports reports that the Arizona Cardinals expect to hold training camp at their Tempe practice facility rather than staging camp in State Farm Stadium in Glendale like in past years.

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports, that will give them the ability to focus efforts on maintaining a single facility instead of creating and implementing virus-proofing protocols for both their stadium and practice facility.

Most NFL teams stay at their training complexes year-round, but Dallas, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Buffalo are among those that stage training camp elsewhere.

The Cowboys and Steelers are scheduled for the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6 and will be the first two teams to report in late July. Dallas usually trains in Oxnard, California, and Pittsburgh in nearby Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

The Cowboys have never held their entire preseason at home. The Steelers have trained at St. Vincent College in Latrobe for more than a half-century.

The league has canceled all in-person workouts at team facilities, which only in the past two weeks have begun opening on a limited basis. No coaches nor players other than those undergoing medical treatment and rehabilitation have been allowed in those facilities.

Soon, the NFL is hopeful of having club complexes fully open, but under strict medical guidelines including social distancing protocols.

One team in something of a limbo: the Raiders. Their move to Las Vegas has been complicated by the pandemic, of course. They had been working out of their Oakland-area complex in Alameda, and had been planning to hold training camp as usual in Napa, about one hour north of the Bay Area. But they could decide to move it to their new facility in Henderson, Nevada.

The Bills have gone to St. John Fisher College outside of Rochester, New York, since 2000, though they have decreased the time they’ve spent away for camp in recent years under coach Sean McDermott.

The Bills have expanded practice facilities at and around their headquarters, and last year unveiled a new training facility/weight room featuring state-of-the-art equipment and costing about $18 million as an addition to their headquarters.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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