The Jaguars have described their two “home” games in London as a business reality.
But for coach Doug Marrone, it also creates some football technicalities that he can’t overlook.
By playing back-to-back games in London this season, the Jaguars have some logistical challenges to overcome, as soon as they find out in April when those games will be and what’s on either side of them.
“We’re looking at things first and foremost to make sure our players are good. That’s the first thing we’ve been talking about looking at, investigating and making things right for our players,” Marrone said, via John Reid of the Florida Times-Union. “It is a challenge. Knowing that, it is going to be a little different for our players to be away from their families.”
The situation has been described as temporary, and hasn’t gone over well with their fans in Jacksonville, since they’ll have just six regular season home games this year.
They’ve played one game a year there since 2013, and Marrone said he’ll touch base with coaches who have done West Coast doubles and found a place to stay between to see if he can pick up any tips.
″I look at it as it is a challenge for our fans, a challenge for our coaches, a challenge for the players — to sustain our team in Jacksonville, if that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do,″ Marrone said. ″I understand the challenges of the business end of what they have to do.
“Hopefully my goal is to win games and we can help them at the end of the year and get some [postseason] home games.”
If he can pull that off, he probably would deserve a nice long vacation, assuming he wants to spend another night in a hotel after this season.