{"id":431082,"date":"2025-10-08T22:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-08T22:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/431082\/"},"modified":"2025-10-08T22:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T22:39:12","slug":"homesick-minnesota-vikings-clearly-regret-taking-euro-business-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/431082\/","title":{"rendered":"Homesick Minnesota Vikings Clearly Regret Taking Euro Business Trip"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"KevinCredit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Minnesota Vikings are back in Eagan, after a two game business trip overseas<\/a> that included stops in Both Dublin, Ireland and London, England. They finished the international swing 1-1, thanks to a last minute comeback on British soil vs the Browns last Sunday.<\/p>\n

From the beginning, it was an unprecedented venture, and one the league was eyeing very closely. Afterall, the Vikings rank near the top of the league in organizational happiness, since Kevin O\u2019Connell arrived as head coach. If any team could make the multi-week trip a success for both themselves and the league, it was Minnesota.<\/p>\n

When news broke initially that the MN Vikings would be playing back-to-back games in Europe, O\u2019Connell and others inside TCO Performance Center played it off as a competitive advantage<\/a>, and actively pushed that narrative both publicly and through NFL insiders.<\/p>\n

\"KevinCredit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Instead of playing away games in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the Vikings would play in what they expected to be mostly neutral sites. As far as how to handle an extended international football vacation, everyone pointed to Paul Martin and the team\u2019s operations staff as the ideal men and women for the job.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings bit off more of Europe they could chew <\/p>\n

In theory, all that sounded great and it even made sense. But in practice, the Minnesota Vikings found out pretty quickly that this trip would be far from normal and increasingly taxing on everyone involved, the longer the team remained outside the USA.<\/p>\n

From the sounds of it, this is NOT something the team would ever do again, nor is it an adventure that they\u2019d recommend the NFL lay at the feet of any other organization. Let\u2019s start with Jonathan Greenard, immediately after the Vikings\u2019 victory last Sunday in London.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Reporter: \u201cIn the future if you\u2019ve got to play [overseas] twice in a season, would you prefer it to be back to back [again]?\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenard: \u201cYeah, I would be the first to say that I would not like to do back to back. But that\u2019s not in my control. Ultimately, someone had to do it. It was us. But at the end of the day, we made the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if you thought Greenard was the only homesick Viking in Europe last week, you would be very, very wrong. Jordan Addison bailed on the team facilities while the Vikings were in London, failing to return in time for a walkthrough.<\/p>\n

Location of Vikings hotel in London was far from ideal<\/p>\n

That resulted in the 3rd year wide receiver being benched for the first quarter of Sunday\u2019s game against Cleveland. Obviously, missing a team walkthrough unannounced is unacceptable under just about any conditions, but given the Minnesota Vikings setup for game two of their European swing didn\u2019t make coming and going very easy.<\/p>\n

Instead of being located near Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or anywhere near the London area, the Vikings were posting up at Hanbury Manor on the rural English countryside, about 1.5 hours away from London, either by public transport (which included multiple connecting trains and buses) or automobile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The trip got so long that Kevin O\u2019Connell was counting down \u201cthe sleeps\u201d until the team went home, first mentioning the countdown publicly on Friday at his press conference when he noted early that there were only two sleeps remaining until their flight back to the states.<\/p>\n

After the victory vs Cleveland in London, he opened his postgame locker room speech with, \u201cZERO SLEEPS LEFT\u201d and the entire locker room roared.<\/p>\n

Nobody flinched.#Skol<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/0z8PFcBEVM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) October 5, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cFellas, make no mistake about it. I know how long this trip has been. I know how long it\u2019s been. Let me just give you some good news, by the way\u2026 ZERO SLEEPS!!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, one thing is clear. The Minnesota Vikings were regretting their two-week trip to Europe shortly after it started. You can blame it on homesickness, amenities or injuries\u2026 but at the end of the day, planning a work trip for 200 people is going to be taxing.<\/p>\n

And while the game isn\u2019t going to stop growing internationally anytime soon, I think it is pretty clear that, if NFL teams had it their way, playing games outside of the United States would cease immediately.<\/p>\n

Receiver\u00a0Justin Jefferson<\/a>, the team\u2019s emotional heartbeat, tried his best. He said Sunday that \u201cit definitely was a great trip, even though it was very long and a little tiring.\u201d Soft-spoken safety\u00a0Theo Jackson<\/a>\u00a0bluntly said \u201cit sucks\u201d to go so long without seeing his family, and trying to navigate a six-hour time difference for video calls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey understand it,\u201d Jackson said, \u201cbut it still doesn\u2019t take away how much it sucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough,\u201d tight end\u00a0T.J. Hockenson<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cYou\u2019re not eating the way you normally eat. You\u2019re not getting the recovery you normally get. You\u2019re not seeing the people you normally see. You\u2019re not getting the \u2018juice\u2019 you usually get. There\u2019s so many things that go into it. But we talked about it all week. There\u2019s so many excuses. You can point to one. You can point to two. You can point to 20. At the end of the day, it\u2019s like, \u2018Let\u2019s grind. Let\u2019s not seek comfort.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Flores (via ESPN<\/a>)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Kevin O’Connell<\/a> London<\/a> NFL International Games<\/a> <\/p>\n

More About: Minnesota Vikings<\/a><\/p>\n

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