Trent Williams already spent some time in London during this past offseason and he's very good at keeping a time-regimented schedule at home – he even color coordinates to help keep his work and home life separate, a well-told story at this point.
Which is why it should be no surprise that the Redskins' starting quarterback already has a strict plan this week as he prepares to go overseas for the first time with his team to take on the Bengals Sunday at Wembley Stadium.
Because of the five hour time difference (on gameday it will only be four hours due to England's Daylight Savings Time), Cousins has committed himself to getting to bed early and waking up early. One way to help with the change in sleeping pattern? Sunglasses.
"I'm going to be right now starting to adjust," Cousins said. "Start getting to bed earlier each night, getting up earlier, wearing sunglasses at night, little things just to try to make that adjustment as quickly as possible so I don't feel it this weekend when we get there. We've got a Bye week after that so we'll have time to rest up. We've got to give it all this week."
The image of Kirk Cousins re-enacting Corey Hart’s music video, singing through jail bars, will likely stay an imagination. Head coach Jay Gruden, at least, hasn't gotten any suggestions for how to adjust, but will probably not be trying on sunglasses.
At his Monday press conference, Gruden didn't seem too concerned with the time zone change.
"No, I don't have a sleep doctor, I'll have to hire one," Gruden said. "I think the guys will understand that they have got to get some rest this week, early in the week, get to bed a little bit earlier, but I think we'll have time to adjust. We get there Friday morning. We'll have Friday night to adjust, all day Saturday. We'll get back on London time. I think they'll be fine. We've talked to some other teams that have done it that way and they said that's the best way to go."
And while most of the questions around the London game seemed negative in their outlook – concerns about injuries, practice schedules, and well, sleep – Gruden admitted that, yes, he is excited to go to London.
"I mean, I can't wait," he said with a grin. "Really, it sounds funny, it's such a big game for us, really. I really don't care where we play them. I just can't wait to play the game. We've got to get this taste out of our mouth and get ready to strap it up and play against a team that's been in the playoffs five years in a row that I know extremely well. It's going to be fun to play against them, no matter where it is, when it is. We look forward to the challenge."
