Taylor Lewan may already believe how strange this is going to be.
“Running there when we announce the offensive and the announcer says, “77, Taylor Lewan, “and I don’t greet anyone, it’s going to be different,” the Titans said Friday.
The Titans already knew they would play in front of an empty stadium for the house’s opening match against the Jaguars on September 20; On August 18, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced that there would be no enthusiasts at Nissan Stadium until at least September.Cooper added: “We can alleviate those restrictions on improving COVID-19 numbers and reports from other NFL and MLS cities.”
Then, on Friday, the Broncos announced that there would be no enthusiasts at Empower Field for their season opening opposite the Titans on September 14.The NFL allows groups to use local rules to make their own decisions about fan engagement.In deciding not to welcome stadium enthusiasts, the NFL is a league-wide policy that would allow the synthetic noise of the crowd, according to ESPN.
On Friday afternoon, the Titans were given a brief glimpse of what it would look like.
There were no enthusiasts in the stands while the Titans trained at Nissan Stadium for the first time at this educational camp, but the synthetic noise of the crowd was pumped through the speakers.A deaf murmur filled the room while the team performed the team exercises.
“As for … The noise of the crowd, I think is fine,” said Titans coach Mike Vrabel.”I don’t know what the grades are. Whatever it is, that’s what we’re going to play with.
During the Titans’ practice on Friday, the volume of synthetic noise from the crowd remained constant in the era of the team, this perhaps became more noticen when the era of the team ended and the synthetic noise of the crowd was stopped, creating a strange silence in the stadium.
In the first seven weeks of the season, the Titans have only two games as visitors: Week 1 in Denver and Week 3 in Minnesota.The Vikings have not yet announced an express plan of participation, but stated that matches would be played “a particularly small capacity and would come with another delight in the stadium,” according to ESPN.
Some groups, such as the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Football Team, have already announced that they will play the entire season without enthusiasts, while others have announced that they will allow a limited number of fans in the stands to start the season, such as the Kansas City Chiefs, who will open Arrowhead Stadium to 22% of their capacity.
Vrabel said he didn’t think the groups would have competitive merit if their site allowed to host fans.
“I don’t know how noisy the 15,000 can be,” he said, “but I guess if there’s an escape, it might be.I still have no idea about that.
But what if there are no fans?
“I think it varies from player to player,” Lewan said.”There’s a point of excitement when you have an organization of enthusiasts who leave safely.Energy and emotion are two things that go hand in hand.However, when you move on to playing, football, it takes a few shots, and when the boys are tired, the enthusiasts die and you play a football game.It’s an individual confrontation. Things are important when you enter a state and play those games.”
Contact Erik Bacharach at [email protected] and twitter @ErikBacharach.