Much like they did the first two weeks of the season, the San Francisco 49ers have elected to find a place to practice on the east coast instead of making two lengthy plane trips for road games in back-to-back weeks.
According to Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle, the 49ers are practicing at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida this week in preparation for their meeting with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
“I think it will be good for all of us to be together for a week,” quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said. “It was good for us in Youngstown. It will just bring the team closer together.”
The 49ers opened the season on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before making a stop in Youngstown, Ohio for a week before a Week 2 meeting with the Cincinnati Bengals. San Francisco won both of those games to open the year. However, they lost the first leg of this road trip, 20-17, to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
The 49ers now find themselves a tiebreaker behind the Seattle Seahawks for first place in the NFC West with both teams at 10-2 and four games left to play, including a Week 17 meeting between the two teams in Seattle.