49ers prepare for unexpected with open-ended move to Arizona

Coach Kyle Shanahan does not view the 49ers' expected multi-week trip to Arizona as an opportunity for the club to bond.

After all, that is what got the 49ers in trouble with nine players going on the reserve/COVID-19 list during the bye week. (Shanahan said he expects each of those players to be cleared in order to travel with the team to Arizona and practice this week.)

The 49ers are scheduled to fly out of the Bay Area on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. They will arrive in Arizona and head immediately to the Renaissance Hotel, a short distance from State Farm Stadium, in Glendale. The team's temporary practice facility will be the same set-up the Cardinals have during the summer for training camp, Shanahan said.

"That’s going to be our home for a few weeks," he said.

The team will leave the hotel only to practice. The 49ers will get in a full week of preparation, beginning Thursday, before their Week 13 game Monday night against the Buffalo Bills.

"We’re not allowed to bond," Shanahan said on Tuesday in a video call with Bay Area reporters. "That’s what guys did for 30 minutes after dinner after the New Orleans game, and that’s what got us a couple of positive tests during our bye week.

"The place we really bond is on the field or in Zoom meetings. Just because we’re in a hotel together doesn’t mean we’re together."

 Download and subscribe to the 49ers Talk Podcast

The 49ers have spent a week at a time between games the past two seasons in Youngstown, Ohio; Bradenton, Florida; and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. But this is a lot different, Shanahan said.

"We’re used to getting away for a week or so, but I can’t tell you how sick of each other we are after a week in a hotel," he said. "Usually that week’s good and we play better, but after that week, guys need to get home.

"A week is not the daunting thing, it’s the month of December that guys get a little overwhelmed with."

Steve Risser and Mike Slap of the 49ers' logistics department, along with general manager John Lynch and team president Al Guido, have been working on the solutions for the team since the County of Santa Clara announced on Saturday a ban of all contact sports.

The 49ers are not allowed to practice at their facility in Santa Clara or play games at Levi's Stadium. The temporary ban lasts through at least Dec. 21, the county announced.

Shanahan said he is advising players and staff to take it one week at a time. He plans to use the first week to figure out what works and what does not, and then make adjustments for as long as the 49ers remain in Arizona.

The 49ers will play at least two of their remaining "home" games in the Arizona Cardinals' stadium. After the Monday night game against Buffalo, the 49ers are set to play Washington on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Shanahan said the only promise he has made to his team is that they will be reunited with family members for Christmas. He said 49ers CEO Jed York will make sure that happens.

"I just try to tell our guys, I don’t care what happens, we’re not going to spend Christmas without our families," Shanahan said. "We’ll figure it out. 

"I know our organization will do everything they can to figure out whether we’re here with our families for that week or whether we have to get all of them to us and go through whatever we have to do to do that. I know that will be worth it, and I know Jed will help us out with that."

The 49ers looked into remaining in the Bay Area -- outside of Santa Clara County -- for practices. The team was known to be looking at a location for practices in Napa County. The 49ers will continue to look for an ideal location in Northern California, but it made sense to get to Arizona, where an ideal team set-up awaited them, Shanahan said.

The 49ers are actually leaving for an area that has a higher rate of COVID-19 cases than Santa Clara.

"My biggest concern, I told the players, we’re very comfortable in where we’re at, just the protocols we have, and we feel like we’ve been pretty good at being safe and how to avoid it," Shanahan said.

"But now we’re going to a new environment. It’s still the same exact rules. But I think COVID is a little bigger there than it is here, so we got to be smart. I plan on guys staying in that hotel and being safe."

RELATED: 49ers grades for offense, defense in Week 12 win vs. Rams

The 49ers (5-6) have five games remaining in the season and they are currently in the hunt for a spot in the NFC playoffs. Shanahan said he has not looked at the standings. He said his approach has always been that if his team reaches 10 victories, they are heading to the playoffs.

The 49ers' 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and the importance of the upcoming games certainly makes for a greater potential pay-off for the players, coaches and staff members who are forced to leave on an open-ended road trip.

"It’s easier to go through the grind when you have a chance to get into the tournament at the end," Shanahan said.