Three takeaways for the three day countdown ahead of the Rams historic season opener in Australia

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. — The NFL season is within arms reach, and the Los Angeles Rams look and sound ready than ever to face off against the San Francisco 49ers this Thursday. The two teams will be a part of history, as this is the first time the NFL is playing a regular season game in Australia. Melbourne to be exact. The football world has just lived through the last Sunday without the beloved game being played on the gridiron. There are three main takeaways to know heading week 

1. The 49ers have been in Australia for days, when will the Rams join them?

Kick off for the historic Aussie fan filled game is on September 10th, and the Rams are still in America while the 49ers landed in Australia on September 4th. San Francisco's goal was to go about a week early so that their bodies would acclimate to the extremely different timezone. Melbourne, Australia is 17 hours ahead of California, which is astronomically more than any timezone difference that teams experience within The United States. 

The Rams are taking a different approach. They have decided to stick to their regular routine for as long as they possibly could. The southern california team will travel on Tuesday evening, and land in Melbourne Thursday morning. For them this will be about 24 hours before kick off, as the game will be played in Australia on Friday at 10:35 am, not to get confused with the fact that it will be a Thursday 5:35 pm kick off here in California. 

Although there has been criticism about the Rams not giving their players and staff more time ahead of the game to gather their bearing, 2025 MVP Matthew Stafford only has positive things to say. “I think guys enjoy being home and having the opportunity to obviously go play over there is really cool, but I feel confident in the way we’re going about it. Guys will be ready come Friday morning.” 

Of course Stafford who is a clear leader on this team being nothing but confident in their approach is a positive, head coach Sean McVay also shared a clear sentiment of believing in what they are doing regarding their travel plan. McVay knows that the Rams staff have spent a lot of time meticulously planning how this will play out, and the coach says that what's important to him is that his players know that they are doing what they think is best. 

Although there will not be much time for them to acclimate to Australia time, McVay still has reason to believe their bodies will be rested and adjusted enough. He says they will, “sleep through the night and then we’ll get there and we have kind of a rhythm.” McVay also made it clear that they will have comfortable arrangements to do as much as they can to ensure their guys will sleep on the 16 hour flight. “It's a big plane, everybody will be able to get fully extended and lay out and be able to get their full rest.” 

2. Davante Adams has been voted captain ahead of the 2026 season

The star veteran who is entering his 13th season in the NFL, and second season with the Rams, has been voted a team captain for the first time with this squad. The wide receiver explained that himself or anyone else does not need a “C” on their jersey to embody what it feels like to be a captain in terms of leadership. The man himself who finished 1st in the NFl last season in touchdowns with 14, did share with the media how it felt. 

“It feels great. It's obviously a great feeling to be voted that.” Adams added, “it’s obviously a huge honor. The more time I get with this organization, get to know my teammates and everybody, obviously the tighter we become and the stronger we become as a team.” 

Adams does more of the action than anything. Like he said, whether there is a “C” on someone's jersey or not, they can still lead. It seems that Adams focuses on guiding guys in the right direction based on his experience. It’s clear that now second year wide receiver Konata Mumpfield and Adams have built some sort of mentor mentee relationship. Adams sees the work ethic and potential in Mumpfield, and has been thoughtful when it comes to helping him come into his own in this league. Of course this intentionality from Adams is not exclusive to Mumpfield, and that is why he is back for year two as the captain. 

Head coach Sean McVay raved about Adams, “explaining that he exemplifies what it means to model the way. “He never asks anybody to do anything that he’s not doing. He’s so willing to share. He’s got a swag and presence that guys just respect.”  

3. Veteran duo Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams see promise in this Rams defense, most likely led by Aaron Donald

Aaron Donald, who has come out of retirement, and Stafford played together for three seasons. The most celebratory season of course being the one when they won the Super Bowl together. So at Sunday's practice when asked about Donald’s veteran presence, the quarterback spoke from experience. “Obviously, he’s a guy who’s accomplished everything you can accomplish on the defensive side of the ball in this sport.” 

Stafford was laying or exaggerating. Donald is a three time NFL defensive player of the year, he is an eight time all-pro, he won rookie of the year back in 2014, and the accolade every player and coach want, he is a Super Bowl champion. 

This will be the first time Adams plays on a team with Donald, and just like anybody else he knows the talent that he will produce on defense. What matters on top of that, is Donald’s character, and how that echoes across the team as the veteran player that he is. “I know the type of person that he is and I know the way he’s going to work and I know the way he looks right now.”