Former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris questioned the Los Angeles Rams‘ travel strategy after their 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, Sept. 10. Speaking on NFL on CBS, Harris said the Rams appeared tired and unprepared for the Melbourne, Australia, environment.
“Absolutely. So the Rams look tired. They look gassed,” Harris said, per NFL on CBS on X. “They looked like they weren’t sure about the environment that they were in.”
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The Rams arrived in Melbourne only 28 hours before kickoff. Meanwhile, San Francisco arrived roughly a week earlier and had more time to adjust to the time difference.
Harris thinks that difference showed throughout the game. “This team looked very slow, very sluggish,” he said. “It looked like there were no fresh legs on the football field.”
Los Angeles struggled across the roster, finishing with only 290 total yards. Matthew Stafford completed 15 of 25 passes for 155 yards as the offense failed to sustain drives. “Stafford looked confused. We didn’t see — like any player on this L.A. Rams roster did not look like how they looked last year,” Harris said.
Even Stafford admitted the Rams never found enough rhythm. “We probably only had two good drives, to be honest,” he said, per ESPN. “Not enough good stuff on offense. We didn’t do the things that we’re accustomed to doing. Too many times, we were on different pages. That starts with me.”
Rams’ unusual travel plan draws fresh criticism
The Rams designed their unusual trip around sleep data and maintaining their normal Pacific Time routine. They stayed in California until Tuesday before flying to Australia overnight.
The team used a specially chartered Qantas flight with 53 custom beds. However, the plan gave players limited time to experience Melbourne before the game.
Harris argued the approach clearly failed based on what he saw. “From that perspective, it definitely seems like their decision on what they wanted to do with their travel plans did not pay off,” he said.
The former Patriots back also singled out Myles Garrett, who recorded zero tackles in his Rams debut. “He looked nothing like what we saw in his entire career,” Harris said.
Garrett later admitted his knee was not 100 percent entering the game. He called the performance “the worst version of myself that I’ve put out there.”
Head coach Sean McVay rejected travel as the main explanation. “I don’t believe [the travel plan] is why we didn’t play well enough,” McVay said.
Still, the Rams now face questions about whether their travel experiment contributed to a flat season opener.
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