'Wake me up in London': Inside Giants' plan for trip overseas for game vs. Packers

EAST RUTHERFORD – Jihad Ward promises there are no secrets hidden within the Giants’ travel plans to London for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers.

He’s one of the few members of the team who has already made the trip – last season with the Jaguars – and the Giants are following a similar itinerary geared toward keeping the bodies and minds of football players in the time zone they are leaving behind despite being five hours ahead when the charter flight lands.

There is a calculated strategy to everything, and well, maybe one secret that Ward was begrudgingly willing to share.

“See that bottle of Nyquil right there,” Ward said with a laugh, pointing to the shelf in his locker here at home. “Two cups before I get in my seat on the plane and I’m out like a light. Wake me up in London.”

SPORTS NEWSLETTER: Get the latest news and analysis in your inbox

NFL COACHES: Path to head coaching jobs is narrow, lengthy for coaches of color

LATEST PACKERS NEWS: Could Lambeau Field's name change? 

The Giants have relied on sports science information and advice to shape their decision as far as when to leave, and they've offered recommendations to keep things as typical as possible - that is, for a team bringing its entire operation across the pond into foreign circumstances, not to mention a five-hour time swing in the opposite direction of a West Coast trip.

'Keeping NFL bodies on NJ time'

Between players and staffers, a travel party of around 215 will be making the trip with the Giants for the third international game in franchise history. The Giants will be staying and practicing at the Hanbury Manor, a historic property north of London with an 18-hole golf course tucked into the countryside.

They will practice and meet as they typically do on Wednesday and Thursday at Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford. Then, after a few additional meetings, they will head to Newark International Airport and depart for London at about 8 p.m. Thursday.

By departing after Thursday's practice in New Jersey, the intention is to provide the players and coaches as much of a normal schedule as possible. They've stressed the importance of sleeping on the plane overnight, and that's because, after landing around 8 a.m. London time Friday, the plan will be to stay up, work out and have practice as well as meetings the rest of the day.

They’ll likely be allowed to sleep in Saturday morning before locking in for game preparation.

The Giants and Packers will kick off at 2:30 p.m. local time Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur in London. Back home, it’s an 9:30 a.m. EST start on NFL Network.

Getting ready to travel overseas

Giants rookie Wan'Dale Robinson hasn't seen his passport yet. It's been locked away somewhere in the football operations department since he and others applying for the first time put in their paperwork shortly after the NFL officially announced the schedules in May.

“When they said, ‘We’re going to London,’ I was like, ‘Then I guess it’s time to get a passport,’” Robinson said with a laugh. “I’ve never left the country, so this is going to be new for me. I’m not sure what it’s going to be like, but I’ll go into this with an open mind and have fun.”

The Giants' operations staff has made the process easy, rookie safety Dane Belton said, much easier than he anticipated. The team’s nutrition staff has already sent over food so they can eat as normal in London.

As is typical standard operating procedure, the Giants also had to send over all their football and training equipment, and their technology. Giants coach Brian Daboll credited director of coaching operations Laura Young for helping build the schedule for the team, while vice president of team security Jerry Meade, director of wellness and clinical services Dr. Lani Lawrence and director of rehabilitation/physical therapist Leigh Weiss - in addition to Young - have worked in conjunction to put together the most comprehensive plan as they could.

"I really never traveled growing up, so I wasn't sure of how it would go,” Belton said. “But I gave my birth certificate in for my passport, it's my first one, and I feel like it's going to pretty smooth, it's a big trip for a lot of us.”

Rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger went to Mexico on a high school trip, so traveling out of the country isn't new to him. The experience of getting ready for a game without any hiccups in the usual routine is another story.

"I’m a go-with-the-flow guy,” Bellinger said. “I’ve been on plenty of flights, so it’s nothing I really need to mentally prepare for. Biggest thing for me is to drink a lot of water, because I get dehydrated easily. It is a longer flight – I remember in college, we had to fly to Hawaii every other year – so I’m sure I’ll have to be smart about keeping my body and my mindset right.”

Safety Jason Pinnock played in London last season with the Jets. He believes in the plan to not fully acclimate to the time change in London, mostly due to the rebound effect. The Giants will land back in Newark by 1 a.m. the following Monday, and immediately start getting their minds and bodies ready for the Ravens.

Both the Giants and the Packers opted to have their bye weeks later in the season, so they'll return home and jump right into preparing for a game the following Sunday.

"Last time I learned how to say, ‘Cheerio,’" Pinnock said with a laugh. "The sleep aspect gets you, but you want to keep your bodies on New Jersey time. It’s a beautiful stadium. Fans are scattered. They have their home sections, their away sections and then fans from all over spread out. It’s really weird to see, like the Pro Bowl or something."

He paused before adding, again with a laugh: "At the end of the day, it’s football - just a long way from home."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NY Giants vs. Green Bay Packers: NFL London game travel schedule