With Hurricane Irma gone, Jags say they will host Titans as planned

— -- JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jaguars will play host to the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field at 1 p.m. ET Sunday as scheduled, the team and Jacksonville mayor Lenny Curry announced Tuesday evening.

In addition, owner Shad Khan is donating $1 million to Florida's First Coast Relief Fund in the wake of Hurricane Irma, which caused massive damage and flooding in the Jacksonville area and across the state. The Jaguars are donating 5,000 tickets to area first responders and residents impacted by the hurricane.

"This is not simply about football," Curry said. "This is about bringing our city and our community together. This is about getting back to normal operations. Jacksonville was on the way up before this and continues to be on the way up."

The area around EverBank Field did have some flooding on Monday but the water had receded by Tuesday afternoon. The stadium itself, which sits roughly a half-mile from the St. Johns River, did not flood and suffered no external damage. There were few downed branches and palm fronds around the outside of the stadium and small pieces of debris in the parking lots around the stadium.

The field appeared to be fine as well. Members of the grounds crew were working on it during the day.

The Jaguars opened the 2017 season in Houston last Sunday, and the team remained there instead of returning home after the game while Irma rolled through north Florida on Monday. The team flew back to Jacksonville on Tuesday morning and arrived at EverBank Field at 1 p.m.

Team officials wanted to examine the stadium and make sure there were no issues before notifying the NFL and the Titans that the facility was in good shape.

"It is so important on so many different levels that we show the world on Sunday that Jacksonville is open for business," Jaguars president Mark Lamping said.