Breaking down the Detroit Lions’ unusual Germany travel plans and why the biggest concern might come after they return home
The Lions will prepare in Detroit, fly overnight to Munich and practice shortly after arriving. But the six-hour time change and three games in 12 days could make the return home the biggest challenge.
The Detroit Lions are heading to Germany to take on the New England Patriots, and this will be one of the most unusual weeks this football team has had under Dan Campbell. We’re talking about an 8-plus-hour flight, a six-hour time difference, a completely different practice schedule, and a game that kicks off at 9:30 a.m. ET for everyone watching back home.
I won’t be in Munich. Some of my lucky colleagues will be, but I’ll be watching from Michigan with you at 9:30 in the morning. No German beer or German food for me.
The Lions aren’t heading over early to adjust to the time change. They’ll spend most of the week in Detroit before flying out Thursday night. That’s still earlier than what the Rams did this season, when they showed up almost the same day. So how does the week break down, and what can a trip like this do to players physically? Let’s break it down.
The Lions are getting their work done in Allen Park first
Tuesday is listed as a player day off. Detroit usually takes Tuesday off after a Sunday game anyway, so this isn’t new. It matters more this week because of everything that comes after it.
Wednesday is the first practice of the week, and Lions coach Dan Campbell will speak with the media at 12:30 p.m. ET. This is where game-plan preparation becomes huge. In a normal road week, the Lions get to stay in their regular routine until Saturday. This time, they have to cross the Atlantic Ocean Thursday night and then jump right back into football activities.
Detroit wants as much of its preparation finished as possible before leaving Allen Park. That’s essentially the plan Campbell laid out. The Lions will practice Thursday at 12:35 p.m. ET after a 10 a.m. ET media entry on the team calendar. My guess, and this is strictly a guess, is that Thursday turns into more of a walkthrough day. We won’t know until Campbell tells us.
Why the Lions will practice right after landing
Back in August, Campbell said the Lions would board a plane late Thursday night, land in Germany, stay awake, and get right into their next practice. When I first heard that, I thought it sounded crazy. You spend eight or nine hours on a plane and then go practice?
There’s a reason for it. Say the Lions leave Detroit at 8 p.m. ET Thursday. That’s already 2 a.m. Friday in Munich. If the flight takes 8.5 hours, they land around 10:30 a.m. Friday local time. Back in Detroit, though, it’s only 4:30 in the morning. The clocks in Germany say midmorning, but the players’ bodies could still think it’s 4:30 a.m.
The team calendar lists a media availability at 3 p.m. CET Friday. Lions fans can catch that at 9 a.m. ET in Detroit.
I don’t believe Campbell is telling players they can’t sleep on the plane. I think the message is that they’d better sleep on that plane, because once they land, they’re getting on the practice field. If a player arrives Friday morning and sleeps five or six hours, there’s a good chance he can’t fall asleep Friday night. With a game Sunday, that’s not ideal.
The goal is to get through Friday, get work done, and get players to bed at a normal local time. Even that won’t be easy. At 10 p.m. in Munich, it’s 4 p.m. in Detroit. Imagine trying to fall asleep at 4 in the afternoon.
Jet lag can impact concentration, reaction time, digestion, and overall energy. That doesn’t mean these guys will play poorly. They’re professional athletes, and the Lions have people who specialize in managing this stuff. It’s still worth watching.
On Saturday, Campbell wants players to have some downtime to see Munich. I actually like that. For some of these guys, this may be their only chance to experience Germany. They still have to finish preparing for the Patriots and get a good night’s sleep.
Then Sunday, the game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. CET. That 9:30 a.m. ET start back home looks strange, but for the Lions, it’s a normal afternoon football game in a different country.
My one slight concern is the flight itself. You’re stuck in one position for eight or nine hours, then you get off, stretch, and go practice. We’ll see what that looks like.
The trip home is the bigger concern
The part that worries me more is coming home, and I don’t think people are talking about it enough. Detroit doesn’t get a bye week after this game.
The Lions play the Patriots on Nov. 15 in Munich. They come home to host the Buccaneers on Nov. 22. Four days after that, they play the Bears on Thanksgiving. That’s three games in 12 days, with a trip across the Atlantic and back sandwiched in.
Traveling west is generally easier on the body than traveling east, but nobody is magically recovered from an international trip. These guys have to fly home, recover from a game, prepare for Tampa Bay, and then turn around on a short week for Chicago. Meanwhile, New England gets its bye after playing the Lions. Detroit gets a mini-bye after Thanksgiving, but that’s it.
Remember what happened after Week 1 against the Saints. The Lions leaned on walkthrough-style practices before a short week against the Bills, came out flat, and Campbell essentially said they would never do that again. So how many of the practices between these three games will be walkthroughs? You have to get at least one real practice in a week. You can’t just rush into every game.
Preparing for a football game while flying back from Germany is something I’m looking forward to seeing. It’s going to be a fun week. Let’s see how it works out.
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