If we've learned anything about Aaron Rodgers in recent years, it's that he's a curious, if not cultured individual.
Despite what Packers coach Matt LaFleur told reporters about the difficulties of preparing for an international game, Rodgers thinks it wouldn't hurt if he and his teammates were able to take in the sights of the United Kingdom when the Packers make the franchise's first trip to London for a regular-season game this weekend.
"Listen, coaches are creatures of habit, even more than players," Rodgers said Wednesday, via ESPN. "Anytime there's a minute adjustment to the schedule, it throws them all out of whack. So I wouldn't read too much into that.
"We're all excited. I think the reason I said I wanted to go over early was just to experience a little bit of that culture, to be able to get out and see some sights and interact with fans and ... shoot, go to a pub and have a Guinness or whatever the local brew is. That's what we all want to do, those of us that want to go over early."
Coaches, naturally, can tend to be control freaks and, as Rodgers said, creatures of habit. Routines are the concrete of their foundation, and they certainly don't want to invite any cracks.
Unsurprisingly, LaFleur sounded stressed by the thought of traveling internationally for a meaningful game.
"I'm not going to give you my honest answer," LaFleur said. "I'd rather refrain. It feels like a Thursday night game for us as coaches just in terms of all the preparation you've got to do. But you just do it, so it is what it is."
NFL teams are familiar with traveling significant distances for games in a league that spans the entire United States. But the routine of road games can feel a little different when another day or two is added to a trip that typically goes as follows: board the plane, land in destination city, bus to hotel, find a place to eat, sleep, bus to stadium, play game, bus to airport, fly home.
As you can see, that doesn't leave a lot of time for Rodgers to hit a pub and chat with the locals.
"Right now, just the way that we are going about it with our schedule, we're] trying to keep everything as normal as possible," receiver [Randall Cobb said. "Obviously, tomorrow we'll be traveling, which is a little different, but I just try to put it in the mind frame of us going to the West Coast and having an extra day on the West Coast. We'll see what it entails on the other side of it, but as far as here preparing, we're preparing the same way to find a way to win a football game."
The 32nd NFL game played in London will feature the last team to make the overseas trip, and could also see the Packers become the winningest team in NFL history. That's not all, of course: The matchup between Green Bay and the New York Giants is only the second international game in which both teams enter with overall records above .500.
It's only Week 5, but it's not a throwaway game. LaFleur knows this, and is understandably more concerned with defeating New York than he is with sightseeing.
In case LaFleur is struggling to sleep as he frantically attempts to check off every item on his preparation list, he should find some comfort in this fact: Rodgers is the first reigning MVP to play in a game in London. A series that was once reserved for the lesser teams in the NFL has now become a showcase, and LaFleur has a quarterback fit for the international stage.
That quarterback will have to take in as much of the sights as he can from the team bus. If he wins, he'll have clearance to grin and snap as many photos as his heart desires the whole way back from Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to the airport. There's always the offseason to take a vacation.
