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Texans may leave early

CINCINNATI — A contingency plan is in place for the Houston Texans' early arrival here because of Hurricane Rita.

The Bengals are working closely with the Texans, who could arrive in town as early as Monday for an Oct. 2 game against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.

Bengals business manager Bill Connelly said Thursday he helped arrange hotel accommodations, and secure practice fields and bus transportation for the Texans, and told them they are free to use the stadium's visiting locker room in the days leading up to the game.

However, the Texans aren't permitted to practice inside Paul Brown Stadium or use the practice fields next to the stadium.

"I told them we would help them out in any way we could short of interfering with our operation, and they said that's understandable and quite acceptable," Connelly said. "Where it stands right now is they have to decide if they're going to pull the trigger."

The Texans, who have a bye this weekend, left their Reliant Park facility after Wednesday's practice and don't have to report back in Houston until a team meeting at 8 a.m. Monday.

"They're contemplating changing that directive to their players and saying, 'Instead of coming to Houston, go to Cincinnati,' " Connelly said.

Texans officials said the team will leave early only as a last resort, and told players they could be gone for up to three weeks. "We have a plan to leave for a week, but we're also preparing for up to three weeks if we have to," general manager Charley Casserly told the Houston Chronicle. "It's an inconvenience, for sure, but it's the same principle as leaving for training camp."

The Chronicle reported that Reliant Park's buildings, along with the Astrodome, would be locked Thursday afternoon, making sure no one is able to try and take shelter in what could be an unsafe area. The Texans were told they won't be able to return to their offices until Reliant Stadium has been deemed safe from the high winds and possible debris and flooding associated with hurricanes.

"If we've got power, we can practice," Texans head coach Dom Capers said. "My preference is to stay here (in Houston). Leaving early is a last resort because we don't want to take the players away from their families if at all possible."

Texans players are being asked to communicate with the team through its Web site if cellphones and land lines are down. Houston center Steve McKinney, who resides in Friendswood, Texas, told the Chronicle: "My plans are to get out of Dodge."

Plans for the Texans' arrival in Cincinnati were set in motion on Wednesday when Connelly spoke with Texans' travel coordinator Ian Nelson. "A number of their different departments called our different departments," Connelly said. "The trainer called. The video department called. And a person from player programs called asking what we could do. I told Ian, 'We've got to coordinate this thing so that there's single point people at each end working on the details and the logistics of this.' I asked him what we could do to help them.

"We helped them with hotel accommodations. We helped them with a practice field location that is not ours. I told them we'd help them with bus companies if they needed any help there. Their players are pretty much scattered everywhere. They're contemplating their next step."

In August 2004, the Cincinnati-Tampa Bay preseason game was postponed for two days because of Hurricane Charley. The Buccaneers helped the Bengals adjust to practicing in Orlando. Now the Bengals are helping the Texans.

"It's the same thing we would hope any other team would do for us if we found ourselves under nomadic conditions," Connelly said. "Tampa did it for us when we went to Orlando. It's sort of an unwritten assistance plan that you do. You've got to help them out, and you help them out to the extent that it doesn't interfere with your own operation. If we can accommodate them to where it doesn't affect us, it's worth doing."

Chick Ludwig writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com