The Los Angeles Rams canceled Friday’s practice because of wildfires sweeping through Thousand Oaks, Calif., that forced the evacuation of some of the team’s players, coaches, and team personnel.
“We just felt like, most importantly, it was for the guys to be with their families, their wives, their kids, and kind of be with that support structure and do things the right way and not have them come in and be totally distracted,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said Friday in a conference call.
McVay said about 20 players and coaches, including defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and defensive line coach Bill Johnson, were evacuated from their homes. He added that about 45 members of the organization have been displaced, but said he didn’t think anyone had lost their home.
The Rams will hold a meeting at the team hotel Saturday and follow that with a short walk-through practice at USC. Before home games, the Rams stay at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and the team is planning to get as many evacuated players and staffers to the hotel a day earlier than usual.
The Rams host the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The NFL did not respond to emails about a potential postponement, cancellation or relocation of Sunday’s game.
The Rams train at the facility on Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. According to local fire officials, 157,000 people have been evacuated from their homes because of the fires, which have killed at least five people.
More: The latest on the California wildfires
More: Meet the Buffalo Bills’ ‘disaster quarterback’
More: LA Kings after latest mass shooting: ‘Enough’
The wildfires come one day after the Thousand Oaks community dealt with another tragedy, when a gunman opened fire at a local bar Wednesday night that’s 4 miles from the team practice site, killing 12 and injuring many more.
The Oakland Raiders have also been affected by the fires and smoky conditions, limiting Friday’s practice to a walkthrough. Because the Raiders host the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, the NFL could be considering contingency plans for that game as well.