The San Francisco 49ers will not play their next two home games at Levi Stadium due to Santa Clara County coronavirus restrictions. Tony Avelar/Associated Press

The San Francisco 49ers will play two home games in Arizona after new coronavirus regulations put in place by officials in Northern California forced the team to find a temporary new home.

The 49ers will host the Buffalo Bills next Monday and Washington on Dec. 13 at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. The team said it will have information on practice arrangements later.

The AFC East-leading Bills will be returning to Arizona for the second time in a little over three weeks, following a 32-30 loss to the Cardinals on Nov. 15.

“The Cardinals organization, State Farm Stadium and League officials have been supportive and accommodating as we work through the many logistical issues involved in relocating NFL games,” the 49ers said in a statement.

Santa Clara County, California, announced new rules Saturday that include a three-week ban on practices and games for contact sports starting Monday. The Niners were on a plane getting ready to travel to Los Angeles, where they beat the Rams 23-20 on Sunday, when the players and coaches heard about the rules.

The rules also will impact the San Jose Sharks of the NHL and college teams at Stanford and San Jose State.

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Along with banning contact sports, the new rules require anyone who has traveled more than 150 miles from the county to quarantine for 14 days.

BROWNS: Star defensive end Myles Garrett is on track to be activated from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday after missing two games with the virus.

Garrett sat out Cleveland’s wins over Philadelphia and Jacksonville the past two weeks after testing positive on Nov. 20. He’s been isolated at home and following league protocols.

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski did not want to address whether Garrett, who was leading the NFL with 9 1/2 sacks when he tested positive, had suffered moderate or severe symptoms during his illness.

The Browns (8-3) will begin on-field preparation for this week’s game at Tennessee on Wednesday, and Stefanski said Garrett has hit all the mandatory markers to ensure his return.

COLTS: Punter Rigoberto Sanchez says he will have surgery Tuesday to have a cancerous tumor removed.

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Sanchez made Monday’s announcement in an Instagram post. He did not provide details about the diagnosis or how much time he might miss — only that doctors found the tumor before it spread to the rest of his body.

“I know that it will not be an easy bump on the road, but I know I have my amazing wife supporting me along with family, coaches, and friends reaching out,” he wrote.

“Unfortunately, there are things you can’t control in life and this is one of them. No plans or preparation would have gotten me ready for this kind of adversity, but like I told my wife, we can’t flinch. Keep striving to come back stronger than ever. Makes me sick that I’ll have to miss some time playing beside my brothers, but I know they will hold it down.”

Sanchez averaged 50.8 yards on five punts in Sunday’s 45-26 loss to Tennessee, netting 40.8 yards on those kicks, but he did not kick off — something he’s done since he entered the league as an undrafted rookie in 2017. Instead, the kickoff duties were performed by rookie kicker Rodrigo Blankenship.

SCHEDULE: The NFL has set its schedule for the league’s Saturday tripleheader on Dec. 26.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will visit the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. followed by the San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (4:30 p.m.) and Miami Dolphins at Las Vegas Raiders (8:15 p.m.).

The early and late games will air exclusively on NFL Network while the San Francisco-Arizona game will be streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch.

The NFL had five games to choose from when the schedule was announced in May, with teams told only that they would play Dec. 26 or Dec. 27. That means the Cleveland-New York Jets and Denver-Los Angeles Chargers are set for Sunday, Dec. 27.


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