Typically, a road win in the NFL isn’t the time for a victory party, or even for music in the visiting locker room. Players are rushing to get showered, dressed, fed and present with family members who traveled for the game, all before being chauffeured away in the bus to the team plane.
But after the Rams completed a 17-3 win over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium last weekend, head coach Sean McVay announced an after-party at the hotel bar.
With a trip to London looming, the Rams (4-2) opted to stay on the East Coast before making their transatlantic flight to face the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2). The extended hotel stay has been something McVay has avoided in the past, convinced players perform better when they get as many nights as possible in their own beds. But sometimes, it can’t be helped.
So the Rams have tried to make the most of it, such as the group gathering Sunday night. Some players went bowling during their off day. Quarterback Matthew Stafford made the most out of the team’s practice venue, the Baltimore Orioles’ Camden Yards, returning to his high school baseball roots on the mound and behind the plate.
“I thought I would’ve played baseball up until probably my sophomore year of high school,” Stafford said before Wednesday. “This was my favorite sport and I still love watching it. Maybe I’ll take some infield at some point this week. That would be more fun than probably trying to hit right now.”
Entering the week, players’ expectations for the long road trip varied based, as you could probably guess, along age. Second-year outside linebacker Jared Verse was more concerned about making sure his PlayStation fit into his suitcase. Veteran receiver Davante Adams was planning flights for his massage therapist and other body technicians to Maryland.
“For me, I have a lot of different checkpoints and things throughout the week that I do locally. It’s going to be different for me for sure,” Adams said. “The main thing for me is just being away from my kids, honestly more than anything. That’s a big part of my healing process and mentally throughout the week just resetting, going home, spending time with them and my wife.”
The Rams kept a standard Wednesday-Friday practice schedule before their Friday flight to London. Players and coaches downplayed the difference between playing in the United States and England, despite the typically sloppiness of European games and the Jaguars’ familiarity with this routine with annual trips to the United Kingdom.
Instead, they’ve tried to keep the focus on the on-field with Jacksonville, a team led by head coach Liam Coen, who served as the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2022. The Jaguars have a young team in Coen’s first season, but have found some success on defense.
The Jaguars rank sixth in the NFL in estimated points added per play on defense with a 49.2% success rate on dropbacks. Linebacker Devin Lloyd’s blitzing will be missed Sunday, but Josh Hines-Allen, Arik Armstead and Travon Walker have formed a formidable pass rush trio with 59 pressures and seven sacks among them.
The offensive side of the ball has been more inconsistent. Some games the Jags can run the ball, others they can’t. Same goes for passing the ball, but the Rams respect quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s ability to escape pressures and hits and keep plays alive.
“He’s not one of those QBs where you just thud him up and he’s going to fall to the ground,” Verse said. “You have to actually hit him. You have to actually pull him to the ground. Also, his legs and his arm are something that you definitely have to be very keen on.”
RAMS (4-2) at JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (4-2)
When: 6:30 a.m. PT Sunday
Where: Wembley Stadium, London
TV/Radio: NFL Network; NFL+/710 AM; 93.1 FM; 1330 AM (Spanish); Sirius 380, 227