The Houston Texans’ trip to London hit an early snag before the team even left Houston.
Reporter Aaron Wilson said Friday that the Texans’ flight was delayed because of a mechanical issue with the jet, forcing the team to switch planes before takeoff. Head coach DeMeco Ryans later confirmed the problem after practice in North London, brushing it off with a line that fit the moment. “Whatever can go wrong will go wrong,” the third-year coach said.
Ryans added, “We had a little issue with our plane, so we had to change planes there before we left Houston,” and said everyone was safe. Quarterback C.J. Stroud said the extended journey helped the team bond.
The setback came after weeks of planning for the London trip. The Houston Chronicle reported that staff made several visits to London once the schedule was released, and the Texans settled on arriving two days before the game.
Wellness director Ladd Harris also handed out blue light glasses and put an earlier bedtime plan in place. “We got the guys some cool blue light glasses to kind of help for guys to go to sleep,” Ryans said.
The Texans had used a similar approach before beating the Jaguars in London in 2019.
Jacksonville, meanwhile, has already been settled in the United Kingdom since last Friday. The Jaguars beat the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17 on Sunday in a wild game that opened with two ejections after a kickoff brawl and ended with late drama. Philadelphia appeared to have it won after scoring with eight seconds left, but a special teams mistake gave Cam Little a chance from 57 yards, and he nailed the kick with one second remaining.
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