The San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams took drastically different approaches ahead of their game in Australia on Thursday night. For the 49ers, they took the approach most would expect, arriving just under a week prior to the game, last Friday, in Melbourne to adjust to the time change. This essentially allowed the team to get adjusted to the time change.
But the Rams tested several approaches and ultimately landed on one that surprised many. As ESPN's Peter Schrager highlighted, the Rams slept on the flight to Australia, arrived a day before the game, slept at the hotel, and then woke up to play.
It came with doubts from many about how the Rams would fare after any potential jet lag, time change, etc., and while the 49ers went on to win
the game 27-7, Sean McVay and company still stand by that decision. But after the game, Mike Evans openly asked reporters when the Rams had arrived and was shocked when he heard the news.
Evans gave a candid two-word response after hearing it: "Oh, dang."
He expanded on that afterward, adding that it's important to give your body time to adjust to the situation ahead of games, as 95.7 The Game revealed.
"I mean, you've gotta give your body time to adjust," Evans added. "I mean, whenever the game's scheduled, you gotta be ready to play, but maybe a few days earlier would have been ideal. We don't care if they came a week or two weeks earlier, we had it on our mind to come out here and execute, and we did that."
Mike Evans: “When did they (Rams) get out here? Seriously.”
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) September 11, 2026
Reporter tells him.
Mike: “Oh dang!”
Mike Evans was so locked into the 49ers game plan that he had no idea when the Rams got to Australia 😂👏 pic.twitter.com/yvVhox4kZr
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 49ers' Mike Evans had perfect 2-word reaction to Rams' bizarre Australia travel plans
