NFL

Giants-Jets preseason game moved to Saturday afternoon

Thanks to Hurricane Irene, Giants and Jets fans will see a rarity this weekend — afternoon preseason football.

Describing it as “the right thing to do” because of the approaching storm, the Giants announced Thursday night that their home exhibition matchup with the Jets on Saturday at MetLife Stadium has been moved up to a 2 p.m. kickoff.

The game had been scheduled for 7 p.m. Instead, the Jets will play their first afternoon preseason game since 2003, and the Giants will do so for the first time since 2001.

The game will be televised locally as planned on WNBC.

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The brunt of the storm is not predicted to hit the area until Sunday morning, but Giants owner John Mara said the time change was made to give fans more time to return home.

“We moved the start time based on the weather forecast and to give everybody an opportunity to get home safely after the game,” Mara said in a statement released by the team. “There are, obviously, many issues to consider. Our players played a game on Monday night, the stadium personnel has to secure the building post-game and, most importantly, the safety and welfare of Giants and Jets fans. We felt like this is the right thing to do.”

The Jets cancelled a special practice at Hofstra on Thursday due to rainy weather unrelated to the hurricane.