Why the Chicago Bears chose to spend all week in London preparing for Sunday’s game: ‘Just to get our clocks right’

When Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet was asked Sunday whether the team’s weeklong trip to London is a pain, he immediately refuted the notion.

Kmet sees the early arrival for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as “a good time to bond as a team before the bye week.”

“We just have to lean into it,” Kmet said. “I don’t think it’s a negative at all. We’re getting out there pretty early, so we’ll have time to adjust to the time zone and all that.

“But I’m excited about it. I think it will be a good time for our team to come together and then go win a game on Sunday and then come back and have the bye week.”

Coach Matt Eberflus and his staff determined a Monday night departure would be best for the players and coaches, allowing them ample time to adjust to the six-hour time difference. Eberflus said he went to Italy over the summer and found out how difficult it can be to get over jet lag.

“Just to get over there and get our clocks right,” Eberflus said. “That’s the big science part of it.”

The Bears’ overnight flight will arrive in London on Tuesday morning. Players will have the day off Tuesday, as they normally do, then will participate in a walk-through Wednesday as they try to get their bodies right.

They’ll have normal practices Thursday and Friday at Hanbury Manor, a Marriott hotel and country club that has a football field specifically built for visiting NFL teams to practice. The facility is located in Ware, Hertfordshire, about an hour north of the center of London.

The Bears will have their usual walk-through Saturday before the Sunday game at 2:30 p.m. local time.

While the schedule allows time for the Bears to settle in, Eberflus said there are challenges to it, specifically for players who grow deeply attached to their game-week routines. He planned to meet with the players Monday evening when they arrived at Halas Hall to give them this message: Stick to that routine.

“Because it’s a little different, right? It’s planes, trains, automobiles — all that stuff,” Eberflus said. “And then you’ve got to really wire into doing your job.

“So whatever your prep is on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, all the way through the week, you’ve got to keep that the same. … Whatever time you go to bed, go to bed at the same time. Don’t change it.”

Eberflus’ weeklong schedule is a change from what the Bears did in 2019 under former coach Matt Nagy for a Sunday night game against the then-Oakland Raiders. The Bears practiced at Halas Hall on Wednesday and Thursday and took a Thursday night flight that arrived Friday morning. They had one practice in London on Friday.

The Bears lost 24-21 behind quarterback Chase Daniel.

Eberflus said he isn’t sure if a winning formula for international game travel has been figured out yet.

“It doesn’t seem like there are any numbers that tell you that one way or another,” he said. “But to me it’s about focusing on us. That’s really all we can do.”

The Athletic reported last week that in 36 regular-season London games, the teams arrived on different days 19 times. The team that arrived earlier won 12 of those 19 games.

The Jaguars have the most experience in the travel, having played 11 games in 10 trips to London since 2013. They won both of their games there in 2023, beating the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills in consecutive weeks as part of a five-game winning streak.

The Bears are the first of back-to-back London games for the Jaguars this year. After winning their first game of the season Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, the Jaguars plan to leave Jacksonville on Thursday evening. They will practice in London only on Friday this week before staying all next week to prepare for the New England Patriots.

Those plans would be altered only if the team expects Hurricane Milton could disrupt its travel. Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters Monday the team is monitoring the storm.

“As of right now, everything is still normal,” he said.

Eberflus said the Bears can’t focus on whether the Jaguars have an advantage in having made the trip so often. They are 6-5 in London.

“We’re going to focus on us,” Eberflus said. “It’s about us, about how we prepare, how we go about our business to prepare. It’s what we’re going to do on the grass over there.”

Bears quarterback Caleb Williams watched Sunday’s Minnesota Vikings win over the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with curiosity. He said he has been abroad before but never has played a game out of the country.

Adjusting to the time difference quickly is Williams’ main concern so that he can be sharp for practices and the game.

“I know the team and everybody is going to show us and teach us ways to be able to adjust to that real quickly,” Williams said. “Because sleep and recovery is super important, for everything — mental, to be able to recall all these plays that we have and be able to go out there and win.”

Eberflus said left guard Teven Jenkins would travel with the team to London but didn’t have a further update. Jenkins left Sunday’s 36-10 win over the Carolina Panthers with an ankle injury.

That was Eberflus’ only injury report coming out of the game.

“We’ll see where it is as we go through the week,” he said.

On Monday evening the team released a travel announcement stating three players would not be traveling with the team. Defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (groin) and cornerback Terell Smith (hip), who both missed Sunday’s game, were on the list, as was safety Jaquan Brisker (concussion).

Brisker reported concussion symptoms to the team Monday afternoon. He has not been declared out for the upcoming game and can join the team in London if he clears concussion protocol before the week’s end.