Clock watchers and snorers: Tennessee Titans veterans share travel tips before London trip

Home may be where your heart is, but when you're an NFL player overseas, it can't be where your thoughts are.

The Tennessee Titans (2-3) head to London this weekend for their first game in the NFL International Series since 2018, a matchup against the Baltimore Ravens (3-2) on Sunday (8:30 a.m. CT, NFL Network). The trip across the Atlantic can be daunting, and staying awake after landing is even more difficult.

But quarterback Ryan Tannehill has a strategy he says works for him.

"Don’t try to look back and see what time it is back in the States," he said. "Look at the clock: Whatever time it is, that’s what time it is. Tell yourself that and just go with it."

There's a six-hour time difference between London and Nashville. So when fans are waking up to watch Sunday's game at 8:30 a.m. in Music City, it'll be 2:30 p.m. at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tannehill's tip is to pretend that's not the case. Your body might be telling you it's time for coffee and breakfast. But your brain can't listen. See the sun. Know it's up high in the sky. Let that be your guide.

Tannehill is a veteran of the International Series; he played games in London with the Miami Dolphins in 2014 and 2015. Many of the Titans' veterans have been over there as well. Safety Kevin Byard, running back Derrick Henry and outside linebacker Harold Landry made the trip with the Titans in 2018. Receiver DeAndre Hopkins went in 2019 with the Houston Texans. Defensive end Arden Key was there with the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, and kicker Nick Folk traveled with the New York Jets in 2015.

That's not to mention cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who traveled to Germany as part of the International Series last year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or players like guard Peter Skoronski and Byard who played games in Europe while they were in college.

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"Your body is going to feel like, ‘I’m supposed to be asleep right now.’ You have to find a way to fight to stay up," Byard said. "I remember some guys did. I think we got off the plane (in 2018), practiced and then we had some time off so guys went to sleep. And then they were up at like 4 in the morning and up the entire day. It’s trying to catch up with your body clock."

Titans coach Mike Vrabel doesn't seem overly concerned about his players adjusting to the time difference. He joked that players already fall asleep in meetings in Nashville, so he'll be used to it if the same happens in London. But he doesn't recall jet lag playing a major factor in 2018, when the Titans followed the same routine they're using this week.

As for the London experience, Vrabel said it's neat seeing fans representing all 32 NFL franchises at a game. He joked he's looking forward to seeing Tom Brady and Josh Allen jerseys at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Tannehill talked about the bizarre experience of fans rooting more for cool things to happen than one specific team, cheering any time either team does something well. It neutralizes home-field advantage in an interesting way.

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Tannehill, Byard and defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons all reiterated that this is a business trip, though. Tannehill said he has never gone sightseeing in London. Simmons said he's hoping to get to see some of downtown London, but he's not going to let the fact that he's in a foreign country distract him from his main objective.

Nor is he going to let his teammates distract him from getting the rest he needs. Tannehill said it's easy for him to sleep on planes, a fact that annoys his wife. But Simmons said he needs to be a little more particular about where he sits. He can't sit next to another big guy. There's too much snoring risk.

Instead, he'll sit with Byard and hope the two veterans can get the rest they need.

"I don’t want to be sat near Arden for sure," Simmons said with a smile. "I can just look at him and tell he snores."

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at nsuss@gannett.com. Follow Nick on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @nickusss.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Titans veterans share travel do's and don't's before London