INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are still months away the start of the 2016 regular season, yet preparations for their game in London began back in 2014.
Just last week, a second travel party of Colts staff made the trip to London to see where the team will be staying and training before their Oct. 2 contest overseas.
While the Jaguars, the Colts opponent in London, have experienced this uniqueness several times, the Colts are dealing with it for the first time.
New Colts coach Joe Philbin was the head coach in Miami for two London trips the past two years.
The Colts are leaning on Philbin before completely committing on when to leave the United States.
"We've spent a great deal of time already in preparation for the London trip," Pagano said earlier this week.
"We're throwing around a lot of different things right now and obviously we've got a guy that's been there a couple times that has been through what hotels do you stay at, where do you do the walkthroughs, acclimating from a time standpoint and adjusting that way. A lot of stuff to work through."
Recently, more and more teams have left the States later in the week.
In an effort to try and keep things as normal as possible, leaving Thursday evening of London week (thus arriving in England on Friday morning) has become a bit of a trend. Pagano mentioned such a scenario earlier this week.
The bigger question for the Colts will come in the week after playing in London, when the Colts host the Bears on Oct. 9. The Colts elected to push back the normal bye week that follows games played overseas.
Trying to decide what is the best travel plan for London is debatable around the NFL.
As Rams head coach Jeff Fisher reminded people at this year's NFL Combine, no matter your traveling situation, you still have to play the game.
"When we went to London in 2012, we thought we had it all figured out," Fisher said. "We went over early. We did all the sleep studies. We did all the stuff you do on the airplane. Got over there, won the toss, took the ball, three plays later we were in the endzone, up 7-0. When the game was over, we lost 51-7 against New England.
"It's a challenge. It's a challenge."
When the Colts do arrive in London later this year, they should see some familiar faces wearing blue and white, thanks to a winning pedigree and a quarterback who is very familiar with Europe.
"That will be cool," Andrew Luck says of playing in London.
"I grew up in London for a couple years, my little brother was born in London so obviously it's a city dear to my family's heart, my heart. It'll be a fun experience."
