The Jacksonville Jaguars are prepared to get out of Northeast Florida if Hurricane Ian forces them to leave, coach Doug Pederson told reporters Monday.
“We’ve got people in house that are monitoring that situation for us, and we’ll be prepared either way,” Pederson said. “If we stay, we’ll be prepared. If we have to move out of here for some reason, if it’s obviously weather related, then we’ll be prepared for that too, so nothing should change that.”
The Jaguars play on the road in Week 4 with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The team is scheduled to leave for Philadelphia on Saturday ahead of 1 p.m. ET kickoff Sunday.
Hurricane Ian made landfall in Cuba early Tuesday morning and is working its way North toward Florida. It’s currently projected to make landfall near Tampa on Wednesday before working its way up the Atlantic Coast.
Jacksonville is projected to get winds up to 80 miles per hour and close to 10 inches of rainfall from the storm.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers moved their practices to Miami this week in anticipation of Hurricane Ian hitting Central Florida. Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles also said there’s a possibility that the team’s Sunday Night Football home matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs will be moved to another location.