Packers eye victory during unique business trip to Brazil

GREEN BAY – Jordan Love has seen the mural, Brazilian artist Crica Monteiro’s large-scale painting that overlooks downtown São Paulo.

The design, sprawled on the side of 12-story building, features Love’s likeness alongside fellow 2020 draft classmate Jalen Hurts, a commemoration of the Packers and Philadelphia Eagles playing the first NFL game in South America this Friday.

One year ago, Love was a first-year starting quarterback being asked to fill the shoes of a legend. Now, he’s the face of Green Bay’s franchise who’ll lead a young team filled with hope and optimism into unchartered territory at Arena Corinthians.

And that is pretty darn cool.

“I’m excited,” Love said. “I definitely think it’s a very cool opportunity to be able to play in front of a fan base who a lot of those people might not have seen an NFL game, might be their first NFL game.”

It has been quite a three-year international turnaround for the Packers, who were the last NFL club to play in London when they traveled to face the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in October 2022.

Green Bay is now set to make history against the “host” Eagles. While the Packers have maintained a business-first mindset to the matchup, excitement is building for the international affair.

The team put in the last pieces of its gameplan in Tuesday’s practice, a final tune-up before Wednesday’s day-long flight to São Paulo. Head Coach Matt LaFleur said the team is leaning on its experts as far as best practices for eating, hydrating and recovering from the flight.

“This is a great stage to be on,” LaFleur said. “We’re going to be the only game on in the world and you get to go do it in a place it’s never been done before. So, it’s a great opportunity for our guys to go out there and show what they’re all about.”

Although the situation is vastly different than when the Packers traveled to London two years ago, lessons can be learned from that experience, as well.

Helping this particular transition is the fact there isn’t a huge shift in time zones. Sao Paulo is only two hours ahead of Green Bay compared to the six-hour difference in London.

Every player has his own plan for how to handle the long flight, with both Love and receiver Christian Watson talking this week about their hope to get as much sleep as possible on the way to Brazil.

Fourth-year cornerback Eric Stokes said he plans to sleep early on while using film study to get through the rest of the flight.

“When we leave in the a.m., I’ll still be sleepy,” Stokes said. “I’m planning on passing out for at least five hours. I’m gonna at least give myself five hours, I pray. The rest of the five, I can probably thug it out.”

Having a few shows and movies cued up also doesn’t hurt to curb the boredom. Second-year tight end Tucker Kraft is bringing his Nintendo Switch along to play “Mario Kart.”

In terms of pure length, running back Josh Jacobs said he’d experienced comparable 12-hour flights while flying from Oakland and Las Vegas to London as a member of the Raiders.

The former All-Pro’s plan involves staying properly hydrated during the flight and getting in plenty of stretching once the plane lands.

“I’m gonna try to keep my body fresh on the plane,” Jacobs said. “When we get there, try to make sure I stretch, and I do everything I need to do to be ready for Friday.”

Second-year receiver Malik Heath and rookie safety Javon Bullard both said this will be their first time outside the United States, while defensive lineman Kenny Clark is one of the few who has been to Brazil before.

The three-time Pro Bowler vacationed in Rio de Janeiro around the same time as Super Bowl LVI two years ago. Despite there being a few Packers bars in the city, Clark explored Rio without anyone recognizing him.

He came away from the trip with an appreciation for the country, its food, and…limeade.

“That was fire,” Clark said. “The fish was great. Overall, it’s just a really good spot, the water and all that stuff is good. I had a really good time.”

As challenging as the travel may be, the Packers feel the long-term benefit of the Friday start is having the opportunity to rest over the long weekend before shifting focus to their home opener against Indianapolis in Week 2.

With all eyes on the Packers and Eagles, the message this week in Green Bay has centered on the importance of this game outside of its unique primetime format.

As LaFleur points out, the Packers would be doing a disservice to themselves and their months of preparation if they focused on anything other than the task at hand.

That’s beating the Philadelphia Eagles.

“We’re out there for a game. It’s not a vacation,” defensive lineman Preston Smith said. “We’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing, that’s going out there to play a football game and win a football game. We’re not going out there to party. We’re not going out there to hang out. We’re going out there to win a game and play a football game. It’s just a different location.”