LONDON -- On Sunday morning, before the Los Angeles Rams played the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, Davante Adams woke up at 4 a.m. British Summer Time. The veteran receiver got to say goodnight to his kids at home in Los Angeles and then "laid in bed for another five hours and couldn't go back to sleep."
He wasn't the only one in that situation, he said, so for that reason, he was especially proud of the energy the Rams showed in their 35-7 victory over the Jaguars in Week 7.
The Rams, who played the Baltimore Ravens in Week 6, opted to stay in Baltimore for the week instead of flying home to Los Angeles. They also chose to stay the full week, holding three practices at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, before flying to London on Friday night. The Rams' arrival less than 30 hours before their 2:30 p.m. BST kickoff is widely believed to be the closest for an NFL team before the start time of an international game.
But despite any jet lag the players were battling, Rams head coach Sean McVay said he felt the team accomplished its goal of a "great week of preparation" leading up to the game.
"I think it's a tremendous credit to really our players and their mental toughness and their resolve and their understanding of, 'Hey, it is a different time clock. Let's not make it a bigger deal,'" McVay said. "Let's be ready when the game kicks off to show up. Let's do everything within our control, but let's not waste our emotional or mental energy on things that we can't control."
The result was the Rams' highest point total of the season so far -- led by three touchdown receptions from Adams -- and a 5-2 record heading into their bye week.
By comparison, the Jaguars flew to London on Monday afternoon, holding practice outside the city.
"You wouldn't have guessed we were here for a week, prepared, ready to go play in this atmosphere by looking at it in terms of the way we started the game," Jaguars coach Liam Coen said after the game.
Rams outside linebacker Jared Verse said he "thought the energy was exactly where it had to be" and "might've been better than anywhere else we played" this season.
"I just feel like the mindset in knowing that we didn't have that much sleep and everybody just like, 'Oh they just flew in,'" Rams outside linebacker Byron Young said. "We had energy like OK, everybody thinking we're just lackadaisical, sleepy, stuff like that. We were ready. We were ready to go and get home. So that's what we did."
THE RAMS BEGAN planning the trip in May, when the NFL released the schedule for the season and granted Los Angeles' request for a game on the East Coast before their trip to London.
The idea for holding practice at Camden Yards came from Rams chief operating officer Tony Pastoors, as Orioles chief financial officer Darline Llamas Llopis spent nearly three years as the director of finance and controller for the Rams.
Senior director of equipment Brendan Burger said when the Rams started the planning process, they didn't know if the Orioles would still be playing or not. When it became clear the Orioles would not be in the Major League Baseball playoffs, the teams were able to sign an agreement.
By the time Rams players ran out onto the practice field in Baltimore on Wednesday, the wheels had been in motion to prepare for this week for quite some time.
Literally.
On Oct. 5, 10 days before the Rams would hold their first practice at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Los Angeles equipment staff sent three semi trucks to Baltimore. The trucks contained everything they would need to move their entire operation to Baltimore for the week, including a full "equipment room, training room, weight room [and] video operation," Burger said.
The Rams also brought goal posts for kicker Joshua Karty to use, as well as speakers for practice.
"You name it, we brought it, from taping tables to video screens to toiletries," Burger said. "We got it all here."
The weight room was a priority because of how different baseball weight rooms are set up compared to what is needed for football, Burger said, so the Rams loaded up their full setup used during training camp at Loyola Marymount University.
The trucks arrived on Oct. 9, three days before the Rams played the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium, which is less than a mile from Camden Yards. At that point, the equipment staff started the build-out process, getting everything ready except what was needed on Sunday in Baltimore.
After the Rams' Week 6 game against the Ravens, the staff brought the equipment to the nearby baseball stadium to set up lockers for the players. Because the Rams' roster -- they brought all 53 players plus their 13-member practice squad -- is so much bigger than a baseball clubhouse, they had to split up the locker room: offense in the Orioles' clubhouse and defense in the visitors clubhouse.
While a unique set up, Burger said, the Rams had everything they needed.
"No, there's no limitations," McVay said of practicing in Baltimore. "It's unbelievable. We might not be able to take some of the vertical shots. We're a little bit more limited with some of the vertical grass, but that's probably a good thing. We'll be able to do everything. We have two spot walkthroughs. We'll be able to get individual [drills]. We'll be able to come together in team settings and activate all parts of the field. It's a pretty damn cool setting so we're excited about it."
The Rams have previously spent part of the week away from their training facility before a London game before under McVay. In 2017, the team spent the week in Jacksonville before playing the Arizona Cardinals, and in 2019, the Rams practiced at Georgia Tech before playing the Cincinnati Bengals.
The difference? They practiced at football fields both of those times.
"You can't fit a full field [in] either direction," Burger said of the differences of preparing for practice on a baseball diamond compared to a football field. "So kind of improvising with that and making sure our specialists can keep doing what they need to do."
Along with the setup for the players, the team also had a training room at their Baltimore hotel, and the coaches had offices in the stadium and at the hotel.
"I was telling my wife, we just have to show up, plug in our computers and it's like we're back at work," defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. "It's been very normal and it's a great place to be."
Added offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur: "For coaches, a computer screen is a computer screen and a field is a field."
After the week of practice, Burger and the equipment staff loaded up equipment from the week of practice and sent it back to Los Angeles. And because of the short trip to London -- with a walkthrough on Saturday at Wembley Stadium but no practice -- the Rams had to pack only their game equipment for London, which is the same as any other of their trips this season.
"It's like a regular game," Burger said. "We go to Seattle, right? Same deal. So that was a blessing and part of the reason we did what we did. ... We feel like it was a better environment for our players here for the week [and] make it a little more routine for them."
ALONG WITH THREE practices in Baltimore, it also meant Rams players spent their Tuesday off day there as well.
Though Verse joked before the trip that the only difference in where he spent the week is that he "had to bring his PlayStation somewhere else," other players said the challenge disrupted a few routines.
Adams said he has a "lot of different checkpoints" throughout the week that he does in Los Angeles, including flying in people from the Bay Area and Las Vegas.
"Twelve years in, you find a way to keep it working for you," Adams said the week before the trip. "I've found my way and like I said, it'll just be a week, but I'd rather have them with me."
Adams also said being home with his kids and wife during the week is "a big part of my healing process and mentally throughout the week."
"Not having that element ... I mean, we'll get through it," Adams said. "I've been away from them for a week or so before that. It's not the end of the world, but if I was drawing it up, I'd love to have my family with me. It's a week that'll be a little bit different from what we normally do, but we'll be able to get through it."
Quarterback Matthew Stafford described his Tuesday as "pretty nondescript," watching tape and trying to get ready for the week. Adams said his Tuesday looked like "a lot of film, a lot of teammate interaction."
Inside linebacker Nate Landman and running back Ronnie Rivers had a fishing trip booked for Tuesday in Baltimore, but it was canceled because of too much wind. Instead, the pair, along with safety Tanner Ingle and inside linebacker Elias Neal, took a rideshare to Bass Pro Shops.
There, they "got some starter rods, some spin rods and then just tried to walk around the bay," Landman said.
"But we didn't know that there was a whole water turnover thing that happened about a week ago," Landman said. "So fishing has not been great."
The water turnover, which is caused by dramatic weather changes, also affected right guard Kevin Dotson. Dotson, who said he tries to fish anywhere he can, ordered some fishing gear for same-day delivery.
"He had some catfish bait and shads and he was throwing kind of stinky stuff, but I guess he didn't catch anything either," Rivers said. "But it was good to see him out there too."
On Wednesday, when talking about his purchase, Dotson said he wasn't sure how he was going to get it back home, but he was going to try.
"I mean, I don't want to waste it," he said.
That day, Landman said if he could find somewhere to donate it to, he would, or he would "find a kid that's walking around the Bay and give it to him."
Rivers said he asked a couple of teammates if they needed an extra pole and if not, he would leave it at his hotel room. When told Dotson wanted to send his fishing rod back to Los Angeles, Rivers said, "Oh, he must have bought a good one then."
Verse described the unique week in Baltimore like playing in a bowl game, while Dotson said it felt like "a high school field trip where you're out of state and you kind of get free time to explore the city."
After practice Wednesday, several players traded a football for a baseball, throwing down the third-base line or pitching from the mound. Stafford, who said he thought he'd play baseball until his sophomore year of high school, pitched to and caught passes from safety Quentin Lake.
"I loved it growing up," Stafford said. "This was my favorite sport and I still love watching it."
The Rams finished their week in London on Friday, practicing for the final time in Baltimore before flying to London that night.
"The guys have done a great job," McVay said Friday. "I've been so impressed. There are so many people that have been instrumental in this being a smooth, fluid trip. I'm grateful for all the people behind the scenes that we certainly don't take for granted that have made this really seamless.
"Guys are excited about this business trip that we have, but I think it's been a good week for a team camaraderie that's organically unfolded. It's been about the week of preparation and guys have done a great job."
THE "BUSINESS TRIP" ended Sunday after the Rams' Week 7 victory, when they flew back to Los Angeles, scheduled to land Monday around 1 a.m. PST to begin their bye week.
The Rams are 5-2, their second-best record entering their bye week in the past 20 seasons, according to ESPN Research. They have also had their best seven-game start since 2021, when they started 6-1 on their way to winning Super Bowl LVI.
This bye week will be "a lot different" than the past two, McVay said, when the Rams were 1-4 (2025) and 3-6 (2024). Both seasons, McVay pointed out, the Rams "finish[ed the season] better" and made the playoffs.
"I want to see us be able to put it together," McVay said. "I'm really proud of this group and I can't think of a time where we've had two more gut-wrenching losses. The way that those unfolded. ... There's something about this team where the way that they go to work, the intentionality."
And although the Rams had a long flight home, Adams said the win "is going to make this bye a hell of a lot sweeter, that's for sure."
"Being able to rally and figure it out and come out with a lot of energy and have a good convincing win like this, it was great," Adams said.