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          NFL Nation

          Ravens looking at London game as your typical 3,678-mile business trip

          • Jamison Hensley, ESPN Staff WriterSep 19, 2017, 01:30 PM
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              Jamison Hensley is a reporter covering the Baltimore Ravens for ESPN. Jamison joined ESPN in 2011, covering the AFC North before focusing exclusively on the Ravens beginning in 2013. Jamison won the National Sports Media Association Maryland Sportswriter of the Year award in 2018, and he authored a book titled: Flying High: Stories of the Baltimore Ravens. He was the Ravens beat writer for the Baltimore Sun from 2000-2011.
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          OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- For the first time in the franchise's 21-year history, the Baltimore Ravens will play a game in London.

          So, will coach John Harbaugh find some time to check out Buckingham Palace or take a ride on the London Eye?

          "How far away are we from anything?" Harbaugh asked, referring to the location of the team hotel. "I don't even care. I don't even know."

          When someone said the Ravens aren't close to the touristy places, Harbaugh said, "So no, the answer is no."

          The Ravens' goal is to minimize any distractions leading up to Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-1), who have the advantage of playing in London four previous times. Baltimore's mindset is the 3,678-mile trek to London is just like their short trip to Cincinnati in Week 1.

          The Ravens (2-0) will spend most of the week at their own Under Armour Performance Center. They will hold practice Wednesday and Thursday in their familiar confines before taking off across the Atlantic Ocean.

          "We're just going to sleep on the plane on Thursday night and after that, we'll be in London," Harbaugh said. "We're going over there to win a football game -- that's it. We're not thinking about too much else besides that."

          The Ravens will hold a practice at a rugby sports facility on Friday afternoon, about 6 1/2 hours after landing in London. After Sunday's game, the Ravens will have a meal together before heading back to the airport for the flight back.

          The players are already echoing the same sentiment. Asked if there is excitement about going to London, Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley said, "It is always a business trip, and we know why we are there."

          One of the challenges is the time difference. London is five hours ahead of the eastern United States.

          That means it will be 9:30 a.m. Sunday in Baltimore when the Ravens take the field for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff in London.

          "We'll try to get our guys on London-time as much as we can, in that sense, throughout the course of the week," Harbaugh said. "We have a plan for all that. We practiced every day at training camp at 8:45 a.m., so they were rolling at 8:45 a.m. That's what we're going with, and we think we'll be ready to go."