Dolphins might need to take another detour before returning to South Florida

The Miami Dolphins’ nomadic trek to start their 2017 regular season might take another detour after they open in Los Angeles against the Chargers at 4:05 p.m. Sunday.

The team has made contingency plans to go from L.A. to West Virginia for the following week of practices before playing the New York Jets on Sept. 24.

That option to practice at The Greenbrier would become reality if power is not restored to the team’s facility by the time Miami’s charter takes off from Los Angeles on Sunday.

Another issue that might force the Dolphins to head to West Virginia is if post-Hurricane Irma inspection of the team’s facility shows significant damage.

Irma veered west of South Florida’s east coast and so damage to buildings on that side of the state is not expected to be catastrophic.

The Dolphins would prefer to return to South Florida and their practice facility if the situation permits.

The Dolphins are currently in Los Angeles and will practice this coming week at the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility in Oxnard.

But it would be inaccurate to say the whole team is there now.

Once the NFL decided this would be Miami’s bye weekend, 47 players were told they could deploy to be with family and friends around the country and are currently not with the team in California, sources said.

Those players are expected to join the team throughout Sunday and Monday.

The team has a 10 a.m. meeting scheduled for Tuesday, and all players are supposed to be with the team by then.

The Greenbrier is more than capable of hosting the Dolphins if it comes to that.

The New Orleans Saints practiced and held training camp practices there for several years.

All Dolphins practices — be they in Los Angeles, West Virginia or at the usual facility in Davie — are closed to the public during the regular season.

This story was originally published September 10, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Dolphins might need to take another detour before returning to South Florida."