WARE, England — Anyone who has flown overseas knows it’s tough to get comfortable in an airplane seat and get decent sleep. It’s even tougher for someone like Bears defensive end Montez Sweat at 6-foot-6, 262 pounds, and he got “a little bit of sleep, but not much” to begin his week abroad.
The flight and six-hour time difference have challenged Sweat, who had never been to Europe and looked groggy Thursday morning before practice at Hanbury Manor and said — literally through a yawn — that he was “slowly shaking back” into feeling normal.
The team arrived Tuesday morning, and players had the day to themselves. Sweat headed to London with teammates searching for fashion and food.
“I did a little bit of shopping, and we went to dinner at Hawksmoor,” he said. “I treated the d-line to dinner. After that we just went home and woke up the next morning feeling like [rubbish].”
His massive frame worked against him there, too, as Sweat was disappointed to find little clothing in his size and had to settle for “a couple hats, some scarves and stuff like that. Just small stuff.”
Giddy
Cornerback Josh Blackwell sat in from of special teams coordinator Richard Hightower on the flight over. He couldn’t stop talking about how lucky they were to go to England for a football game.
“We was excited, saying NFL football has been good to us … He was giddy, almost teary-eyed,” Hightower said.
Hightower was too.
“A lot of our kids have never been overseas,” he said. “Hell, I’ve never been overseas. This is my first time here.”
Hightower’s impression thus far?
“The architecture in this part of the world is outstanding,” he said. “Looks very different than what we’re used to.”