Maintaining a normal routine the week of a game in London is always a challenge for NFL teams. Bears coach Matt Eberflus is taking a different tack than the Bears did under Lovie Smith in 2011 or Matt Nagy in 2019.
The Bears were scheduled to arrive in London on Tuesday morning and conduct their regular practice schedule overseas in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The players will have Tuesday off to get acclimated after an eight-hour flight, then conduct practice as they usually do on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Under Smith and Nagy, the Bears did not arrive in London until Friday.
“Just to get over there and get our [body] clocks right. That’s the science part of it,” Eberflus said. “I went to Italy this summer and it takes a couple of days to get there. I’m all-in for that.”
Eberflus said he planned to talk to players before leaving for London to emphasize the importance of maintaining the normal game-week routine as closely as possible on a trip that is like no other game week.
“It’s about staying with your routine,” Eberflus said. “Whatever time you go to bed, go to bed at the same time — don’t change it. “You’ve got to make sure you’re doing that, and we have to do that as a group.”
The Jaguars are scheduled to arrive on Friday, but they have the routine down pat. The Jaguars have played in London every year since 2013 (except 2020, when the NFL’s international games were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Last year they played twice on the same overseas trip, beating the Falcons 23-7 at Wembley Stadium and the Bills 25-20 at Tottenham Stadium.
The Jaguars’ familiarity likely is a benefit — 19 of their starters and 30 players overall have played in London. But that was no concern for Eberflus.
“We’re gonna focus on us — how we prepare, how we go about our business to prepare,” Eberflus said. “We’re gonna look at our preparation, our film study, how we prepare like we do here. It’s gonna be no different.”
Jenkins in limbo
Eberflus said left guard Teven Jenkins, who left Sunday’s 36-10 victory over the Panthers in the second quarter with an ankle injury, will make the trip to London. But his injury status won’t be clarified until Wednesday.
Jenkins already was playing through bruised ribs when he injured his ankle without contact while running downfield on a five-yard pass from Caleb Williams to tight end Gerald Everett. He fell to the ground and almost immediately signaled to the bench he needed a substitute.
Dexter’s big step
Second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter had four quarterback pressures, one sack and a fumble recovery against the Panthers. Dexter, who had 2.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits in 17 games last season, already has four sacks and 10 quarterback hits in five games this season.
He said he was motivated to get tight end Tommy Tremble’s fumble that safety Jaquan Brisker forced after missing out on one last week.
“Coach Flus joked around on one of the [fumbles] last week — I think Kyler [Gordon] beat me to it when Tez [Montez Sweat] stripped the ball,” Dexter said. “So I had to [it] this week.”
Business trip
Safety Jaquan Brisker is one of several Bears who will be playing overseas for the first time. It’s a business trip for him, and nothing more.
“Definitely not looking forward to the flight,” Brisker said. “I mean, it’s just a game in London, I guess. I’m not really looking forward to playing out there. But we have to play, I guess. I’d rather be here in Chicago, because it’s a home game they took away from us.”