GREEN BAY, Wisconsin — Aaron Rodgers sounds a little more excited about Sunday’s Green Bay Packers game in London against the New York Giants than his coach.
So much so that Rodgers would have preferred to spend a little more time abroad.
Rodgers didn’t complain or question Matt LaFleur’s decision to do most of their prep work in Green Bay, but after hearing his coach talk about how difficult the lead up to this game is, Rodgers sounds amused at the way where coaches stress over every little detail.
“Listen, coaches are creatures of habit, even more so than players,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “Anytime there’s a little tweak to the schedule, it just messes them all up. So I wouldn’t read too much into that.
“We’re all excited. I think the reason I said I wanted to get there early was to experience a little bit of that culture, to be able to get out and see some sights and hang out with fans.” “Go and … shoot, go to a pub and have a Guinness or whatever the local brew is. That’s what we all want to do, those of us who want to get there early.”
Earlier Wednesday, LaFleur gave a measured answer to the question of how difficult this week is.
“I’m not going to give you my honest answer,” LaFleur said. “I prefer to hold back. It feels like a Thursday night game for us as coaches, just in terms of all the preparation you have to do. But you just do it, so it is what it is.”
LaFleur has coached twice in the London game, once during his time as an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams and once with the Tennessee Titans. After reviewing previous plans and consulting members of his staff who have coached earlier in that game, LaFleur decided not to leave until late in the afternoon or early evening on Thursday.
That means the Packers will fly at night. By the time they get to London, it’s Friday morning. They have a training session scheduled for 1:15 PM London time on Friday.
“Obviously the time we leave can put a little stress on the schedule,” Rodgers said. “But that’s the bottom of the worry.”
With the Packers and Giants each at 3-1, it is the first time in 32 NFL games played in London that both teams have set winning records. Before this season, the Packers were the only NFL team that had not played a regular-season game abroad. Neither the Packers nor the Giants will say goodbye next week.
“Right now, just as we’re doing with our schedule, [we’re] trying to keep everything as normal as possible,” said recipient Randall Cobb. “Of course we’re going on a trip tomorrow, which is a little different, but I’m trying to keep it in mind that we’re going to the west coast and an extra day on the west coast. We’ll see what it means on the other side, but as far as we prepare, we prepare in the same way to find a way to win a football match.”
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