Next Friday, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers face off in their regular season opener in the first ever game played in Brazil in the city of São Paulo at the Corinthians Arena
However, it does not come without risks. Currently, there are wildfires in Brazil. In addition, players have been told to be on high alert due to crime in the area.
Some Eagles players, including C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Darius Slay, have had some level of trepidation about playing in Brazil. Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown said he’ll probably stay in his hotel room.
On Sunday, Sirianni discussed playing in Brazil.
“Yeah, we’re going there to play and win a football game,” he said. “That’s our goal. That’s our only goal as we go down there, and so, it’s just getting everybody in the right mindset of what you need to be when you go down there. You can control the things that you can control. Like, we’re going to Brazil to play. That’s what it is. We’re excited about that.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to play in a neutral site and have a slightly different schedule of things that happen. Like you have a big bye, like a mini bye, coming off of it. So, there are a lot of positives in it. It’s also to spread the game to a new country, which is exciting.
“But make no mistake about it, all those things right there are what they are, but we’re going there with one goal in mind and nothing else, so I think that is the main thing that we’re all saying: We’ll control the things we need to control. Just like when a game rains, the team that handles the rain and looks at the rain as a — that they’re ready for it, is going to be able to play better in the rain.
“Same thing in a neutral site, whether it’s in London, wherever it is. It will be good for us. It’s going to be good for us to go play in a neutral site and handle the different things that pop up in the NFL. You play on a short week. Oh, this game got changed to that game. These are things you can’t control. What we can control is our effort, we can control our attitude, we can control our core values, and we’re going to focus on that this week.”
The players’ concerns are legitimate; hopefully, everything goes off without a hitch. We’ll see how this plays out, but for now, it’s football in Brazil on Friday.
