The San Francisco 49ers have been navigating a truly wild Week 2 preparation, completely upended by their epic trip to Australia. Fresh off a Thursday night game Down Under, the team is back on a Sunday schedule this week, and head coach Kyle Shanahan straight-up admitted that getting over the jet lag was the biggest hurdle they faced. It sounds like a total nightmare scenario, messing with your entire game plan.
Australia’s Brutal Aftermath Hit Hard
Shanahan didn’t pull any punches when talking about the recovery from that massive time zone shift. He told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco, “The biggest challenge when we first got here was getting over the jet lag, just like it was when we went out there.” They returned on Friday, and according to the coach, Saturday and Sunday were “pretty rough.” Monday wasn’t much better. It wasn’t until Tuesday that they started feeling normal again. By the time they saw the players on Wednesday, everyone seemed to be past it. Shanahan felt that once the actual practice week started, the worst of the jet lag was behind them.
Regaining Focus: From Hotel Bubble to Home Distractions
Shanahan touched on a fascinating point about team focus during these long trips. He noted that when they’re away for a week in a hotel, whether it’s Australia or Greenbrier, there’s nowhere else to go. Players and coaches just hunker down, talk football longer, and there’s nothing to do but focus on the game. But when they come back home, it’s a whole different ballgame. Suddenly, families are waiting, there are “other things” to deal with, and it’s a real effort to “regain that focus that everything is about those 3.5 hours on Sunday.” He experienced this challenge of regaining pinpoint focus the most after weeks away. Shanahan even mentioned seeing the team on Monday for review meetings, and he thought they were “dragging a little bit.” But by Wednesday, which he considers the first “real” day, everyone was “great in the meetings, attentive.” The NFL’s had international games before, but this one sounds like it was the biggest adjustment yet.
So, after what sounds like a grueling start to the week, the 49ers have reportedly had three good days of practice and, per Shanahan, the guys are “ready to go.” They’re set to face the Miami Dolphins this Sunday. Will the lingering shadow of that brutal jet lag finally dissipate, or will it show up on the field when it counts? You know everyone will be watching to see if all that “regaining focus” truly paid off.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Niners Nation.
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