There are conflicting reports about the reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers didn't leave earlier in the week for their Week 4 game in Dublin, Ireland, against the Minnesota Vikings.
The positive of leaving earlier in the week is that it gives players and coaches more time to get acclimated to the time change. Anyone who has ever traveled overseas knows just how difficult that can be, especially early in the trip.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, word on the street was that the Steelers wanted to leave earlier in the week, but the NFL denied their request.
"FYI, the Steelers wanted to go over early in the week, but the NFL said no and (is) making each (team) arrive at the same time," Dulac said. "I don't know the exact reason for the change... Maybe it has to do with something about competitive advantage. But it wasn't the Steelers' decision."
But the NFL is saying that is not the case and instead it is the team's decision when to leave for the overseas contest.
"Michael Signora, the league’s senior VP of football and international communications, said it is up to each team to decide how early or late in the week it wants to arrive for an international game. Sometimes, those decisions are based on hotel and practice site availability," Dulac reported on Friday.
The Steelers' travel schedule has been a hot-button issue ever since we learned of their game in Ireland during the offseason.
As Cam Heyward revealed, leaving on a Thursday for the 2013 game in London proved to be a terrible idea, as players and coaches had issues getting acclimated and were falling asleep at practice and in meetings.
“We left Thursday night and arrived Friday morning,” he said on the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast. “Everybody was asleep during practice. Everybody was falling asleep during the stretch. Then we had meetings after, everybody fell asleep there.
"Then, during the game, everybody was asleep in the first half. It’s rough because you’re going, what? It’ll be five hours ahead?" Heyward added. "So you’re trying to get sleep on a plane going over there. It’s not ideal.”
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers made his feelings clear on the Steelers' travel schedule, saying he preferred to leave earlier in the week to get more time to enjoy Ireland.
While he didn't say as much, chances are Rodgers likely wanted to leave earlier in order to get more acclimation time, also.
The good news for the Steelers is, both teams will be dealing with the same travel schedule, as the Vikings arrived in Dublin on Friday, so there won't be any competitive advantage.
But, rest assured, if the Steelers look sluggish on Sunday, fans will be blaming Pittsburgh's lack of an adjustment to its travel schedule as the cause, and they probably wouldn't be wrong.
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