Starting their season with a so-called home game almost 4,800 miles away from Lincoln Financial Field doesn’t seem to excite the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles will play against the Green Bay Packers on Friday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil — marking the first NFL game in South America.
Eagles cornerback Darius Slay mentioned on his podcast that “I do not want to go to Brazil,” though he later apologized for his comment. Wide receiver DeVonta Smith gave a “No comment” when asked about playing in Brazil.
Some of the hesitation comes from safety concerns. Packers cornerback Eric Stokes was told not to leave the hotel while in Brazil. Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown received similar advice.
“There were a whole bunch of ‘Don’t do’s,’” Brown said. “I’m just trying to go down there and win a football game and come back home. That’s the best way I can put it.”
Another issue is that the Eagles missed out on playing in front of their home crowd in Philadelphia. The Eagles are the designated home team in Sao Paulo.
The Packers hope they learned from their last international game two years ago.
Green Bay had won three out of its four games that season, and coach Matt LaFleur made it clear that he wasn’t thrilled about playing in London. The Packers lost to the New York Giants at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and went on to lose five more games.
So the Packers are not complaining about the travel this time. They’re hopeful that there won’t be a similar negative impact from this trip since they won’t be crossing as many time zones.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to line up and play football,” Stokes said. “That’s all that really matters. Once those lights come on, everything else will go out the window.”
These teams ended last season going in different directions.
The Packers aim to build on the momentum from their late-season push last year that took them to the NFC divisional playoffs with the league’s youngest team.
