Displaced by Hurricane Ida, the New Orleans Saints went back to work Monday about 500 miles away in the home of another NFL team.
Saints players and staff, along with about 120 family members, relocated to North Texas in advance of the storm that made landfall south of New Orleans on Sunday as a powerful Category 4 hurricane with winds of 150 mph, and left that entire area without power.
Coach Sean Payton said the team will practice through Wednesday at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. That comes before a previously planned break leading into the start of the regular season.
“Left behind are obviously apartments, condominiums, homes. Those are all physical things. Nonetheless, they’re still home for so many people,” Payton said Monday. “We had a team meeting this morning, kind of hit on some topics. And then, you know, I think to some degree that going out and being able to practice today is going to be good for everyone, because from afar, there’s only so much you can do.”
