Lamar Jackson may go check out Christ the Redeemer in the offseason, but he's not buying a ticket for this weekend.
Coming off a stinging home loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Ravens are solely focused on beating the Dallas Cowboys (1-1) in Brazil. While the first-ever NFL game played in Rio de Janeiro will be an unforgettable experience, the Ravens want to make it a good memory.
"Just to see the NFL's growth with the international part of things – it's great. I am excited," Jackson said Wednesday. "But at the end of the day, it is a business trip for us. It is not to go have fun, to sightsee, or anything like that."
The Ravens fly out Thursday night and land Friday morning. It allows them to have normal practice days at the Under Armour Performance Center on Wednesday and Thursday, then jump into recovery and as much normalcy on Friday and Saturday as possible before Sunday's game.
International travel schedules became a big topic of conversation after the drastically different approaches taken by the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams for their Week 1 game in Melbourne, Australia. The 49ers spent the week there while the Rams landed approximately 28 hours before kickoff. The 49ers blew them out, 27-7, and McVay later conceded that it was a mistake.
It's the Ravens' third international game, following trips to London in 2017 and 2023. Baltimore lost the first against the Jacksonville Jaguars, then beat the Tennessee Titans on the second trip across the pond.
The Ravens spent several days in London before last international trip, but Rio has only a one-hour time difference from Baltimore, so there isn't as much acclimation required beyond it being a longer flight.
Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said playing international is "really cool" because it breaks up the season a bit and provides a different challenge.
"I feel like the rhetoric around the game after it is done is who handled the travel and everything better. I think that just goes hand in hand on who is being more of a pro or not. That is something that I think we can thrive at," Hamilton said.
"We're only down there for like two days. We have practice obviously \[and then\] you have to get ready for a game, so kind of in and out. I am sure we will see enough of \[Brazil's\] beauty. I think our hotel is in a pretty cool place with a decent view. Get close to the beach, probably not go out on it, but it's close enough."