Air Necessities

PHILADELPHIA – The Eagles on Wednesday will embark on a 10-hour jaunt to São Paulo, Brazil, site of the long-anticipated season-opener against the Green Bay Packers.

While the team has made a concerted effort to maintain a similar, routine mid-week schedule of a typical game week, much of its conversation in recent days has centered on team logistics and safety guidelines.

The Eagles, according to wide receiver A.J. Brown last week, were given explicit directives to exercise proper security measures.

Much of the building discourse involving the first-ever NFL game to be played in South America largely pertained to off-field news items, but the game itself – to be played at Corinthians Arena – pits a pair of NFC heavyweights against one another to kick off their seasons.

What often isn’t discussed, though, are the travel logistics from a player standpoint, specifically the 10-hour flight.

Earlier this week during locker room availability, I polled several Eagles players on how they intend to spend their air time to Brazil.

Some of the answers were surprising, to say the least.

LB Ben VanSumeren

VanSumeren: “I still gotta figure that out. I just got some headphones. I’ve been doing all the trips without headphones. Guys make fun of me because I didn’t have a pair. I don’t know; I’ll probably download some music and some movies and stuff.”

Q: What’ve you been doing without the headphones? Just straight-up listening to music on speaker?

VanSumeren: “I’m just there in my thoughts, really.”

Q: [Laughs]

VanSumeren: “I’m serious, yeah. But I’ll probably just watch some shows or something. I don’t know. I’m not really into shows, but I’m sure I’ll pass the time.”

Q: Now that you have headphones, Ben, what’s on your playlist?

VanSumeren: “I listen to Zach Bryan and I listen to Rod Wave. So, it’s an interesting mix, for sure. But just some music that actually means something, I feel like. That’s what I like listening to.

CB Isaiah Rodgers

Rodgers: “I already got my playlist ready. I already had one in my phone from when I worked out. Just ready to go to sleep, listen to music, go to sleep again.”

Q: What’s on the playlist?

Rodgers: “Well, I got a lot of Chris Brown on there, a little Morgan Wallen mixed in there. So, I got a mixture of country and R&B.”

DT Moro Ojomo

Ojomo: “I don’t know. [Laughs] Probably movies, try to take a nap a little bit.”

Q: Which movies?

Ojomo: “Uh, I don’t know. I feel like they haven’t released anything good recently. I was a big “House of the Dragon” guy, a big TV series guy.”

DT Byron Young

Young: “They told us not to sleep, so I’m gonna try not to sleep. I don’t know what I’ll be doing, but it’s gonna be difficult not to sleep.”

OT Fred Johnson

Johnson: “What’s on my playlist? Probably just old school music like Motown, like all the groups from that time period … The Temptations, Jackson 5. Probably some Adele or something. Something relaxing.”

Q: Is that what you listen to before games?

Johnson: “Nah, so like, after practice and stuff, I’ll go home and I got a karaoke machine at my place. So, I just go and sing R&B songs all day.”

Q: [Laughs] For real?

Johnson: “Yeah, I sing songs on my karaoke machine more than not. And I think I owe my neighbors in my apartment complex some tickets to a game or something, because sometimes I be loud and just not care. Because, you know, it’s just something to unwind.

“Like, you can just chill and have a couple minutes to decompress. But I listen to anything; I listen to sad country songs, to R&B, just a bunch of different things. But 10 hours? I’m going to sleep. I’m going to sleep for a least a couple, at least as many hours I can get.”

Q: How does a person of your build navigate the restricted confines of a plane for that long?

Johnson: “I pray to God they got laid out stuff. Because me, Mekhi [Becton], Jordan [Mailata], Lane [Johnson] … Jordan Davis, like we all need some room. And if we’re sitting there the whole flight, I ain’t gonna lie to you, I might not be able to run when we get off the plane!

“So, other than that, you just take a couple trips around the plane, like every couple hours. Like, we’ll try to walk up and down the aisles and just get the blood flowing. Other than that? That’s it.”

Q: What’s the longest flight you’ve taken?

Johnson: “We went to London. When I was with the Bengals, we went to London, like 2020 or something, I think. And we went to London, it was like, nine-plus hours. I don’t even remember, all I know is the time change messed me up bad. But we went nine hours ahead over there, so my body was on 3 o’clock a.m. over here, but it’s mid-day over there.”

Q: Oh wow. And how long did it take you to shake that?

Johnson: “I don’t think I shook it at all. I got narcolepsy, too, so it was bad. Like, I remember I missed a meeting, everything. It was bad.”

DB Cooper DeJean

DeJean: “I haven’t thought out that yet. I’m gonna watch some film for a little bit. Can’t watch film for 10 hours straight, obviously. So, I’m gonna have to find something to do  – watch movies, TV shows, whatever it is.”

Q: Anything in particular?

DeJean: “Not that I could think of off the top of my head. I’ll definitely find something, because I ain’t just gonna be sittin’ there the whole time.”

Q: How about music-wise, what’s on your playlist?

DeJean: “A little bit of everything. I like country; I’ve been listening to a lot of Zach Bryan lately. He was just here. Drake, I’m a big Drake fan. A lot of him. Just mix in a little bit of everything.”

Q: So, you’re going heavy Zach Bryan and Drake on the plane?

DeJean: “See, I’m not a huge music guy, so I don’t listen to it often unless it’s before a game. But I’ll probably throw it on. Maybe a couple podcasts or something to keep me busy.”

CB Eli Ricks

Ricks: “Catching up on all my shows and just reviewing what I need to review.”

Q: Which shows?

Ricks:” I’m watching ‘House of the Dragon’ currently. It’s a really good show, honestly. Probably the best show out, I think, right now.”

Q: Any music to be worked in?

Ricks: “I mean, when I wanna go to sleep, I don’t listen to music. So, probably not. It’ll probably just be shows until it’s time to go to sleep.”

Q: What’s the longest you’ve been in a plane?

Ricks: “Probably going back from IMG [Academy, in Florida] and back. To California and back. It’s probably damn near a six-hour flight. So, this will for sure be the longest flight.”

LB Jeremiah Trotter, Jr.

Trotter Jr.: “I’d probably say it’ll be a mix between going over the game plan, watching movies or taking a nap or something. But this is the longest flight I’ve been on, so this is gonna be a learning experience on how I wanna do my routine.”

Q: Any specific movies on the docket?

Trotter Jr.: “I’m a movie guy, so I ain’t got a lot [that I haven’t yet seen]. But I may rewatch some movies that I really like.”

Q: Any examples?

Trotter Jr.: “I’d probably say any Marvel movie. I’ll probably download some of those Marvel movies.”

OT Darian Kinnard

Kinnard: “Just connecting with the guys. Probably be playing some cards and just hanging out and just probably sharing some fun stories and just cuttin’ up. Might take a little nap, just because it’s such a long flight, but just trying to stay up –  ’cause it’s only an hour time change – so, just trying to stay up and just have fun with the guys and just relax a little bit.”

Q: As an offensive lineman, how do you make it work for that length of time?

Kinnard: “[Sigh] Man, I don’t know. Last year, we took a trip to Germany. So, gotta just deal with it and hang out with the guys and just enjoy the moments you have with your teammates.”

EDGE Jalyx Hunt

Hunt: “They told us we gotta be stayin’ up. So, I’m gonna be trying to watch some movies, probably.”

Q: Any movies in particular in your queue?

Hunt: “I’m trying to watch all the Harry Potter series. I haven’t seen it all before. So, it’s gonna be my first time doing it. I’ve got eight hours, so I think I might be able to squeeze a couple in. [Laughs]”

RB Will Shipley

Shipley: “I’m gonna try to stay awake as much as I can and not mess up the sleep. Maybe get a 45-minute nap in there. But definitely gonna be going over the install, stuff that we got into the week. Protections from the running back standpoint, all the special teams that I’ll be doing as well. And then outside of that, definitely just be watching some Netflix and all the streaming sites. But yeah, fill my time up. We’ll probably have some WiFi, so talk to my fiancee and my family and all that good stuff.”

Q: Which Netflix show has your interest?

Shipley: “Prison Break is No. 1 right now. It’s a little old time, but it just got added on there. So, I’m just beginning Season 2. I have a lot of time to get into that season, so I’m excited.”

Q: What was the longest flight you’ve taken?

Shipley: “It would have been right over five hours, over to Stanford, back in the high school days.”

S Tristin McCollum

McCollum: “Man, we’re flying in the day time so I can’t sleep too long. I’ll probably be studying some of my stuff, trying to take a nap, and I’m gonna bring my Nintendo Switch. So, if I ever get bored, I’ve got that.”

Q: Nice. Which games?

McCollum: “Shoot, a bunch of Mario games. I’ve got Minecraft on there. I got, shoot, you know those Switch games; I just be buying them and I don’t even know the names.”

Q: What was the longest flight you’ve ever been on?

McCollum: “The longest flight is probably only like five hours.”

Q: When you were at Sam Houston?

McCollum: “Uh-huh. Yeah, going up to North Dakota. So, this is gonna be double.”

WR Britain Covey

Covey: “I’m thinking of reading for five of the hours and then watching something for the other five. I don’t just wanna veg out and watch stuff the whole time, so I ended up buying some random fantasy book with this trip in mind, from this Tik-Tok I follow. So, we’ll see if I can get into that. Start with that, and if I like it, I’ll keep reading.”

Q: Explain that one. It sounds interesting.

Covey: “You know, with my podcast, I’ve been reading so many self-help, leadership books that I kind of am like, ‘I need a fantasy book that I can get lost in. Something that’ll take me out of the stress of football.’ And so, I just kinda looked up some stuff and found this new fantasy book – it’s probably for teenagers, but who cares? – and we’ll see. It’s called ‘Sky’s End.’ And I don’t know much about it, but I’m hoping I can kinda get that little imagination thrill.”

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.