49ers will set up at the Renaissance hotel close to Cardinals' practice fields and State Farm StadiumGETTY IMAGES
The 49ers are making State Farm Stadium in Glendale their temporary home through at least Dec. 21, when the current Santa Clara County restrictions are set to expire, but the 49ers also are "prepared for a scenario where they will be extended and the team will have to stay in the desert for the rest of the regular season," according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said, "The best scenario for us and the most convenient for us right now with the situation presented is just getting out to Arizona, there's a good setup there." Wagoner noted the 49ers "will set up shop at the Renaissance hotel close to the Cardinals' practice fields" and the stadium. The team did what it could to "find a more local option." Their initial preference was to "find a Bay Area county nearby where they could practice and then fly to their 'home' games in Arizona and return." But that effort "proved unmanageable because anything outside of the county that could accommodate them would require a drive of at least couple hours each way" (ESPN.com, 12/1). In S.F., Eric Branch writes the 49ers "decided on Glendale partly because they had little time to decide after the county's directives were announced Saturday afternoon." In the spring, when Santa Clara County was under a stay-at-home order, the 49ers and NFL "discussed contingency plans that included the team using the Cardinals' facility" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 12/2).
LOOKING AT THE POSITIVES: NBCSN's Mike Florio notes there are other NFL coaches that likely are "jealous of what Kyle Shanahan now has -- he has a bubble.” Florio: “This is the thing that coaches have been worried about all year long -- once those players and everyone else leave the facility out into a community where the virus is running rampant, you worry that you’re going to get guys who show up positive. That worry, that stress, that anxiety is now plummeted if everyone is in the hotel” (“PFT,” NBCSN, 12/2).
NOT GETTING ANY SYMPATHY: In San Jose, Daniel Borenstein writes people with "high public profiles need to set the example." Instead, Shanahan "ranted about how he didn't get advance notice" of Santa Clara County Public Health Dir Dr. Sara Cody's order. Borenstein: "Please, spare us the 'I’m-special' whining. Anyone who didn't see this coming hasn't been paying attention." It is "especially hard to feel sorry for Shanahan." Even though his team had a season-high nine players on the NFL's COVID-19 reserve list last week because of positive tests or close contacts, he was "photographed with his mask around his neck after Sunday's game as he hugged a player" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 12/2).
