'Transition' Friday For Patriots In London
BOSTON (CBS) - A lot is being made of the travel and time change for the New England Patriots as they arrived in London, England early Friday morning for Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams at Wembley Stadium.
But head coach Bill Belichick is not making a big deal out of the five-hour time difference, coupled with the six-hour flight, that his team will have to deal with.
Belichick and his players are likening this weekend's trip across the pond to their trip to Seattle two weeks ago.
"You travel, make the adjustment, and get ready to go," Belichick said. "We've traveled every other week, half our games are on the road. It's a little further trip, but it's nothing that I don't think we can handle."
"That was basically the same distance, just opposite direction," Brady said, "and we played decent football for most of that game and then let the lead kind of slip away there at the end.Hopefully we play better than we played at that particular moment and that particular game."
"We're excited for this game. This is a different game," added Brady. "It's a different challenge and I think we've been preparing since our game ended against the Jets last Sunday and I think all the players seem to be excited about this weekend."
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To get used to their new surroundings and time zone, Belichick is giving his team Friday off after having three days of practice back home at Gillette Stadium. But come Saturday, it will be back to normal getting ready for the Rams.
"We'll try to get re-organized and acclimated to the new surroundings. Today's kind of a transition day for us," said Belichick. "Tomorrow will be a normal Saturday for us, then Sunday we'll be ready to go. Excited to be here, looking forward to the game facing the Rams, and to be in London. It's always nice to be in London."
Linebacker Jerod Mayo was a rookie when the Patriots played in London in 2009, so he's experience all the changes of an overseas trip. He also knows how important winning Sunday's game is for the 4-3 Patriots, especially with their bye week coming up.
"It is very critical. We always talk about stringing them together and this is a time where we have to start stringing things together," said Mayo. "We haven't faired too well against NFC West teams, so hopefully we can get this one."
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At the same time, Mayo will make sure he enjoys every second of the trip; including the fans that have either come along to support the team, or new ones they've made along the way.
"It's always great to come over here and play. I feel like this is a home game for us," said Mayo. "This is old England that's cheering for New England. It's a good time."
Tale of the Tape: Patriots-Rams
Tune in to the Patriots-Rams game Sunday afternoon at 1pm on WBZ-TV and 98.5 The Sports Hub. Pregame coverage beings at 11am on the Hub with Patriots Preview, with three hours of post game coverage following the game. WBZ-TV kicks off their coverage at 11:30am with a special edition of Patriots All Access, and full post game coverage with Patriots 5th Quarter.
