MELBOURNE, Australia — The Rams’ timing was impeccable.
Or was it?
That will be one of the questions that will be answered when the Super Bowl-favorite Rams open the season against the San Francisco 49ers at Melbourne Cricket Ground before a crowd of nearly 100,000 fans.
The Rams timed their workout schedule in Woodland Hills and their arrive-the-day-before-the game flight plan so that when they play at 10:30 a.m. local time, it will feel like they’re playing in a primetime game back home.
That, at least, was the plan.
Now it is time to see if that was the right move, the wrong one or something that has a negligible impact on the outcome of the first NFL game in Australia.
On Thursday in Melbourne, about nine hours after they arrived, Coach Sean McVay looked and sounded happy that he no longer had to answer questions about the team’s travel strategy. The plan in many ways mimicked last season’s successful sojourn to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“Get a good night rest tonight and be ready to rock,” McVay said during a media session with mostly Australian reporters after his team went through a short jog-through at Marvel Stadium.
Quarterback Matthew Stafford said the Rams would get enough sleep and “be ready to rock and roll” at game time.
“It’s a little bit of an earlier start for us,” the reigning NFL most valuable players said, “but I think our body clocks will be right on and ready to go.”
Said receiver Davante Adams: “I can’t tell you there’s been very many games in my career where I was sleepy when it was time to kickoff…. If I get two, three, four, eight hours, we’ll be ready to rock come game time.”
Linebacker Nate Landman said the Rams honed their sleep schedule in the week leading up to the game and concluded it during their plane ride so that players are in a “unique L.A. time zone, so that we’re feeling like we’re playing in normal hours for us.”
Safety Quentin Lake said the double-deck plane provided plenty of room for all players.
“I never walked onto a plane and then had to walk up more stairs,” he said. “That was interesting.”
Lake said the Rams are going to “peak at the right time.”
Regardless, the Rams are ready to start a season they intend to end with a victory in Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium.
“A week ago it felt like it was 40 days away,” Adams said, “and you blink and we’re right here ready to go.”
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