EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants have done everything possible to keep to their normal schedule this week as they prepare for their road game against the Los Angeles Rams.
However, this weekend’s game isn’t their typical road trip. On Thursday night, the Giants will be embarking on a six-plus hour flight east across the Atlantic Ocean to London, where the Rams have already settled in for the International Series game on Sunday.
The long flight combined with the change in time zone is sure to present some challenges to the Giants, whose head coach Ben McAdoo chose not to head to London early because, as he put it, “We wanted to get our heavy lifting done early.”
Some of the issues include getting proper rest on the plane, something that is sure to be a challenge even if players are treated to sleeper seats; and how the players, particularly those who are nursing lower-body injuries, respond to the change of altitude.
And then there is the jet lag, which even in a best-case scenario where if a player gets some rest on the flight, resetting his biological clock in terms of meals and rest might be easier for some than others.
“Every guy is different,” said defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. “You don’t really know how your body is going to react, whether you get jet lagged or what.”
Receiver Victor Cruz, who has made several trips to Europe, admits that adjusting is going to be a challenge.
“Oh man, it took me about two days to really get acclimated and adjusted to the time, mainly because that six hours is a lot of time to make up,” he said.
“Twelve midnight and you are wide awake or it is 12 in the afternoon and you are sleepy, so it is definitely something that is different for us and it will be different for us.”
Cruz believes the key is for each player to prepare himself accordingly.
“I think that going to sleep on that plane is going to be one of the biggest things for us because when we land it is going to essentially be 8:30 in the morning,” he said.
“So you want to land and feel like you are just waking up from going to bed the night before and then hopefully you can kind of play not a lot of catchup, but play catch up from there, which is easier to do than landing at 4:00 p.m. or something weird like that and trying to play it that way.”
Kicker Josh Brown, who makes his offseason home in Washington state, knows a thing or two about the toll flying east can take on one’s body and how to minimize the impact, and was happy to find out that his tips and tricks are all things that the Giants medical and training staff are recommending the players consider for the trip to London.
“You have to sleep; you can’t sit up and watch movies the whole entire time,” Brown said when asked what his first piece of advice would be to his teammates. “You must take advantage of your time to come off the plane and feeling able to play at your potential. So managing your sleep and managing your time on your feet is going to be very important.”
Other tips Brown had to offer include wearing compression socks — in his case he wears compression pants — and staying well hydrated.
As for the players who are nursing injuries that might involve swelling at increased altitudes, McAdoo said they have that base covered as well.
“They’ll have plenty of room,” he said of his injured players. “We’re going to move them up as far as we can on the plane and give them plenty of room to get their rest.”
Challenges aside, Pierre-Paul said it’s important to focus on the purpose of the trip and not the inconveniences the logistics might cause.
“It’s a game,” he said. “We have to go play it. We have to do our jobs. Everybody has to hydrate well and get some sleep. We’re playing early — well, it’ll be early here, but we’ll be alright.”