Getting some rest the next challenge

As to the first part of the equation, some players are well-equipped for the challenge.

Veteran outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, who made the trip to London with the Ravens last year, said one of his superpowers is being able to sleep anywhere.

“Like, even on a short trip with my kids, I fall asleep, and they’re like, ‘Daddy’s passed out over there,” he said with a laugh. “I can’t ever stay awake on planes. I don’t know why.”

Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton, who was here for the London trip in 2019, has a process (as you might imagine), putting white noise in his headphones, and sacking out quickly.

“I’m going to do everything I can to get as much sleep as I can on that plane,” Moton said. “And then that way I’ll be able to hit the ground running.”

That makes them the lucky ones. On the other end of the spectrum is outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum, who said he struggles to sleep on planes.

“I may sleep for like 10 minutes and wake up,” Wonnum said. “I wake up like every 10, every 5 minutes. So it’s hard, but we’ll figure it out.”

Wonnum made the London trip in 2022 when he was with the Vikings, which was his first overseas flight. He’s not necessarily an eager flier (his first time in an airplane was when South Carolina went to Vanderbilt his freshman year) but said the bigger struggle was staying awake the following day.

“I know that once we get there, we can’t go to sleep; we’ve got to stay up all day,” Wonnum said. “So I know that I need to get all my sleep on the plane ride over here. Kind of just knowing what to expect is what’s going to help me out. It’s really hard, man. But that’s where the coffee, the caffeine, and all the drinks come into play. We’ve just got to be mentally strong, you know what I’m saying?

“I realized it once we got there, we had practice, I went back to the room and I sat down for like 5 minutes and I’m like, oh, I’m tired, I’m ready to go to sleep. I’m like, no, I can’t go to sleep. Let me go get some coffee, let me go get something to stay up. You really just have to keep yourself moving. Keep yourself busy; keep your mind going and your body going. That’s it.”