Jaguars at home in London, focused on first win

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Not every NFL team plays a home game several thousand miles and five time zone differences away. Unless you’re the Jacksonville Jaguars.

For a fourth consecutive year, the Jaguars moved a “home” game to Wembley Stadium in London.

This year’s opponent will be the Indianapolis Colts, a foe from the AFC South, making their first trip across the pond to play a game in front of 80,000 fans.

London is familiar territory for coach Gus Bradley and the Jaguars. Jacksonville has been a four-year participant in the International Series dating back to 2013 and has committed to play a game in London through the 2020 season. Needless to say, it’s quite a change for players, some of whom are making their first trip overseas.

Making the adjustment to the five-hour time change is often the biggest obstacle to overcome. The secret for some who have done the trip in the past is to be able to sleep on the 13-hour plane ride to and from London.

“I can’t sleep on the plane so I’m probably going to have to get the sleeping pill,” Jaguars outside linebacker Dan Skuta said. “It’s weird because I don’t think I’ve ever heard where you drug yourself to go to a game. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some sleep because if you don’t you’re in trouble. You have to sleep on the plane. That’s the most important thing. That’s really everything. Because if you do sleep on the plane, when you wake up, it’s just a normal day. As long as you can get your body on that schedule as quick as possible, that’s the key.”

Then there’s a matter of when the team should arrive in London. Based on typical game-week schedules, teams have opted for early arrival – Tuesday night – or much later Friday.

In 2013 when Jacksonville made its first trip to London, the Jaguars played at Cincinnati the week before. Immediately after the game, the team and other personnel loaded up a charter jet overseas. That meant all of the Jaguars’ personnel was in London for parts of eight different days. Most players feel that’s too long to be there.

“I think it’s good to go over there and experience something different and give the people there a chance to see American football,” said wide receiver Marqise Lee who will make his fourth trip to London this Thursday. “I like going over and arriving on a Friday. My first year we were there a week and I really don’t prefer to do that, that was too long. It just takes a day to get your body adjusted.”

Skuta will make his third trip to London in the last four years. He was part of the San Francisco team that played the Jaguars in 2013. He made a return trip there last year after signing with Jacksonville as a free agent during the offseason.

“We went out for a week that first trip so that’s a little different,” Skuta said. “We had a great result (42-10 win over the Jaguars) when we went out for a week. It’s all different. The Bills went out for a week last year and we ended up winning that game. It’s good both ways, it’s whatever you prefer.”

Jaguars’ players say while the experience is good and the atmosphere with foreign fans is most supportive. For 0-3 Jacksonville, a win is the most important part of this trip. Some national outlets have wondered aloud whether Bradley could be coaching for his job. He’s 12-39 in three seasons following last week’s loss to the Ravens. Week 2 at San Diego, the Jaguars fell behind 35-0.

Jacksonville has a bye week upon returning from the UK.

“Playing in front of the fans there, you try and not get into that too much,” defensive end Tyson Alualu said. “Those of us in the locker room know who we are and what we stand for. It’s always exciting to go to London with the fan base that we have over there. Maybe it is good to get away a little bit. But our main focus is going there and taking care of business and coming back with a win.”