Chalk Talk: What’s greatest challenge in London?

[Staley Da Bear]

Based on what I remember from the Bears’ trip to London in 2011 and what I’ve heard this week, I think the biggest hurdle to overcome is adjusting to the six-hour time change. You leave Chicago around 7:30 p.m. and arrive in London the next morning at about 9:30 a.m. local time. But that’s also 3:30 a.m. Chicago time and that’s exactly how it will feel to everyone on the flight. The advice I heard is not to go to sleep when you get to the hotel but to power through the day and then go to sleep Friday not. I felt kind of numb that first day on the Bears’ last trip to London. But coach Matt Nagy is well aware that his players could be a little sluggish during Friday’s practice. Here’s what he had to say this week: “Preparing them for what they’re about to go through is important, which we’ve done. The next part is spicing up the practice a little bit so you give them a little bit of energy. How do you do that? Well, there’s ways to manipulate that. That’s my job to do, which we’ll do, and then once practice is done, go back to the hotel and fall asleep because you’re tired.”