Rams coach Sean McVay sees late travel to Australia for season opener as best course of action

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Greenspan, D. (2026, September 7). Rams coach Sean McVay sees late travel to Australia for season opener as best course of action. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/rams-coach-sean-mcvay-sees-late-travel-to-australia-for-season-opener-as-best-course-of-action/article_8065a939-4e3b-5964-95dc-d30b5e5cbe36.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-07 · by Dan Greenspan

Quick Summary

Rams coach Sean McVay has chosen an unconventional travel plan for the team's season opener in Australia, with the team leaving Southern California on Tuesday night and arriving in Melbourne on Thursday, roughly 24 hours before their game against the San Francisco 49ers. The approach is based on previous experience from a similar trip to London last October, where the Rams rolled to a 35-7 win after arriving on Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon start. McVay notes that while the plan may not be conventional, it's what he thinks is best for the team. The NFL has approved plans to play up to 10 international games per season starting in 2027, with Commissioner Roger Goodell expressing interest in having every team play one international game each year.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-07, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Sean McVay, coach of the Los Angeles Rams, has decided to travel to Australia with his team for their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, roughly 24 hours before the game. This is an unusual decision, as most teams prefer to arrive in a new time zone at least a day or two before playing a game to allow for rest and acclimation. The Rams will be playing at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. McVay cited the team's experience traveling to London last October, where they arrived on Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon start and won 35-7, as an influence on this decision.

Written for “Los Angeles Rams Preseason Schedule” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Los Angeles Rams Preseason Schedule
Sports · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 21% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 38 📰 publisher trust 63
“Article A describes the 49ers' arrival and preparation in Australia, while Article B discusses the Rams' travel plans, indicating two separate news articles about different teams at the same event.”
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article B focuses on the overall event of the game, while Article A provides more details about the unusual travel plans of the Rams”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-07 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 8988 article(s) · 24 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 24 correction(s)
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Dan Greenspan
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 And if the problem is solely about scheme, there would be limited options to replace McDaniel, who was hired in January.
🔮 Turning to Ethan as the kicker would necessitate additional changes to the operation since he’s the regular holder.
🔮 At 0-5 and with no signs of help on the way, it doesn’t look like things will be getting easier for Herbert any time soon.
🔮 Allen is decidedly less enjoyable to try to defend, as the other side of the ball for the Rams (2-2) will have to do in their showdown with the Bills (3-1) on Monday night.
🔮 He also showed his typical toughness in run blocking, helping pave the way for another strong performance by running back Kyren Williams as he scored twice in the final four minutes to give Los Angeles a potentially season-salvaging victory.
🔮 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Aaron Donald will miss the Rams’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday because of a sore back, while Puka Nacua will return after missing two games because of a hip and groin injury.
🔮 After coach Sean McVay put a heightened emphasis on addressing those issues, including bringing in a new special teams coordinator, upgrading personnel and devoting more time to the unit, the progress of that newfound commitment will be tested in a return visit to eastern Pennsylvania on Sunday.
🔮 McVay expressed optimism Nacua could return this week after missing two games because of a hip and groin injury.
🔮 The Chargers had plenty of opportunities to come through with a potentially season-saving win at the Bills on Sunday and still couldn’t take advantage.
🔮 If he’s right, opposing offenses might feel worse once the three-time AP Defensive Player of the Year rounds into form.
Also by Dan Greenspan
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Dan Greenspan →

Topics

Australia LOS ANGELES London NFL Rams

Subjects

NFL ORG · 6× Rams ORG · 6× McVay PERSON · 5× Australia GPE · 3× Jackson PERSON · 2× London GPE · 2× LOS ANGELES GPE · 1× Sean McVay PERSON · 1× the Los Angeles Rams’ ORG · 1× the San Francisco 49ers ORG · 1×

Narrative

Rams expect to have Nacua, Jackson for opener The Rams expect to have star wide receiver Puka Nacua and starting left tackle Alaric Jackson available for the season opener despite being under investigation to determine if they violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy, McVay said.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-07
🔮 The Rams are leaving Southern California on Tuesday night and will arrive in Australia on Thursday, roughly 24 hours before their game against the San Francisco 49ers kicks off at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Claims (19 extracted, 4 hedged)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean McVay has never been afraid to buck conventional NFL logic, and he is doing so once again with the Los Angeles Rams’ unusual travel plans for their season opener in Australia. asserted
he → buck → Australia
The Rams are leaving Southern California on Tuesday night and will arrive in Australia on Thursday, roughly 24 hours before their game against the San Francisco 49ers kicks off at 10:35 a.m. local time on Friday morning at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. asserted
game → leave → Ground
The Niners will spend one week in Melbourne, having arrived last Friday for what is expected to be the first of several NFL regular-season games in a country and venue traditionally associated with cricket and Australian rules football. asserted
what → spend → cricket
“It doesn’t mean that we think we’re right and a different approach is wrong,” McVay said Sunday. asserted
McVay → mean → ?
“It’s just what we think is best based on the things that we’ve done and what we’ve learned over our time here.” asserted
we → ’ → time
McVay said the plan was influenced in part by how the Rams approached their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London last October, when they arrived on Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon start. asserted
they → say → start
They rolled to a comfortable 35-7 win at Wembley Stadium. asserted
They → roll → Stadium
However, they had already spent a week on the East Coast after playing at the Baltimore Ravens, reducing both the flight’s length and impact of adjusting to a new time zone. asserted
they → spend → zone
This time, the Rams will be spending approximately 15 hours in the air, albeit with lie-flat seats available to all players and coaches. asserted
Rams → spend → players
“I feel like we’re just keeping it as normal as we possibly can,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. uncertain
Stafford → feel → it
We obviously have experience with doing it (in a) different direction, all that kind of stuff, I understand last year in London, but it felt like it worked out for us.” asserted
it → have → us
How the two NFC West foes fare in the game and in the following weeks after their contrasting routes could have teams around the league looking to copy the more successful model in years to come. uncertain
teams → fare → years
There are nine international games scheduled this season, and NFL owners approved plans in May to play the maximum of 10 games allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement beginning in 2027. uncertain
owners → be → 2027
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has expressed interest in having every team play one international game each season for a total of 16. asserted
team → express → 16
The league already has a multi-year contract with Visit Victoria, the official state tourism company, to host games in Melbourne. asserted
league → have → Melbourne
With the NFL granting the Rams global marketing rights in Japan, South Korea, and China, along with being one of four teams to have marketing rights to Australia and New Zealand, this could be the first of many long road trips to Australasia or the Pacific Rim for McVay and his club. “We’ve tested it out with some guys and we feel like it’s been positive, but that’s what went into the approach,” McVay said. uncertain
McVay → grant → approach
Rams expect to have Nacua, Jackson for opener The Rams expect to have star wide receiver Puka Nacua and starting left tackle Alaric Jackson available for the season opener despite being under investigation to determine if they violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy, McVay said. asserted
McVay → expect → policy
Jackson was arrested in June on suspicion of felony domestic violence but was not charged after the case was assigned for a pre-filing diversion. asserted
case → arrest → diversion
He was previously suspended two games without pay in 2024 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, ___ asserted
He → suspend → policy
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