Max Kellerman and Sam Acho discuss the significance of David Bakhtiari’s injury for Aaron Rodgers' and the Packers. (2:15).
While the city of New Orleans continues its recovery from Hurricane Ida, the New Orleans Saints will host the Green Bay Packers at Jacksonville’s TIAA Bank Field.
The NFL has announced Jacksonville as an alternate venue for the game. It will still start at 4:25 p.m. ET, as originally scheduled.
Saints were interested in playing in Dallas. They have temporarily set up operations there after New Orleans' evacuation. The Cowboys' AT&T Stadium was not available due to a concert that was scheduled for the stadium later in the week.
Because of replay requirements and other logistical issues, the NFL prefers all games to be played at NFL stadiums. However, Mickey Loomis, general manager of the Saints, stated that the league constantly identifies possible locations for each week in case such circumstances arise.
Week 2 and 3 are at Carolina and New England respectively. The Saints might return to the Caesars Superdome in the ideal scenario.
The Superdome was not damaged in any significant way. However, it would be difficult to host a game in the New Orleans area by next week due to widespread power outages.
Brian Gutekunst, general manager of the Packers, stated Wednesday that there was no input from the Packers regarding the decision to play the game in Jacksonville.
Gutekunst stated that "I don’t think we had much say given that it was New Orleans’ home game." "We would have loved it here [at Lambeau field], but that would've made it even more special.
Matt LaFleur, Packers coach, said that his team will adapt to the new venue.
"We'll adjust, and I think there's some adjustments: some positives. It probably won't quite be as loud. He said that it was difficult to simulate such heat.
Saints have announced that all season-ticket holders will receive information about all ticket options. Loomis responded to the question of whether the Saints had considered selecting a location that would not give Green Bay an advantage on home-field. The main thing is that we need a stadium that's NFL-ready. There are so many variables.
In the past, games have been moved by the NFL due to severe weather conditions, the Metrodome roof falling in Minnesota and issues related the the coronavirus pandemic that struck last season when San Francisco 49ers were playing their final two home games at Arizona.
These kinds of adjustments are not new to the Saints. They had to evacuate New Orleans in 2005 for an entire season and have since moved their practices around multiple times.
The Saints will remain in Dallas for a minimum of a month, until New Orleans is fully restored. The team's practice facility at Metairie in Louisiana didn't sustain significant damage. However, the Saints plan to wait until things are back to normal for all staff and players before they return home.
According to sources, the team will be sharing TCU's facilities over the next few weeks. Pro Football Talk reported this Tuesday night. If scheduling conflicts arise, the Saints will have access to AT&T Stadium and SMU.
This report was contributed by Rob Demovsky, ESPN.
