The Buffalo Bills go into the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London as clear favourites from a sporting point of view. Nevertheless, they have a hurdle to overcome in preparation for the game. In doing so, Josh Allen and Co. are resorting to sometimes unusual methods.

Despite the usual firing of classic phrases about how grateful he is to be playing in London, Bills head coach Sean McDermott seemed only partially happy when he appeared before reporters at the training ground in Watford on Friday. The 49-year-old then explained why he only allowed the team to have a warm-up for Friday’s training session.

“Normally we would have had a full-speed training session today. However, the lack of sleep forced us to take this measure. We have to think about mental health here as well,” McDermott explained.

The Bills held their first two practice sessions of the week Wednesday and Thursday in Buffalo before travelling to London on Thursday night. From the airport, they headed straight to the practice field – anything but ideal preparation for Sunday’s barnburner.

Bills: Preparation already starts on the plane

To make the travel hardships more or less bearable, the Bills resorted to some unusual methods: “We trust our sports scientists completely. We did sleep exercises before and during the flight so that as many players as possible could sleep,” said McDermott, describing the somewhat different preparation for the game.

If it’s up to a flight attendant, the Bills staff did a good job here at least: “He said to me, ‘That was the quietest flight he’s ever been on,'” the Bills coach revealed further.

Moreover, for players who couldn’t get a wink of sleep even with sleep drills, there were still earthly remedies.

Josh Allen: Tired MVP candidate relies on caffeine

“I’m not really a coffee guy, but this one at the hotel is very tasty,” quipped star quarterback Josh Allen. He added that he knew, of course, that England is actually known more for tea than coffee.

The 27-year-old made no secret of the unusual strain on the Bills this week: “I’m already very tired, there’s nothing to sugarcoat. I’m sweating out a lot of caffeine right now.”

In terms of his personal performance or that of the team, however, this fact should not matter: “We’re playing football on Sunday, just like we’ve done every Sunday since we were kids.” With that, the MVP candidate, who has put up ten touchdowns scored in the past three weeks, clearly takes his team and himself to task.

Star receiver Stefon Diggs is also making no excuses: “I’ve never been the big sleeper. So it shouldn’t matter to us. When we’re challenged, we have to be there.”

Against a rested Jacksonville Jaguars, who prepared the whole week in London, certainly not the worst approach.