Request granted: Browns to spend two weeks out west after Thanksgiving

NFL schedule makers approved the Browns request for back-to-back games out west

There will be many things written about the Cleveland Browns 2023 NFL schedule. While nothing will happen on the field for a few months, there are a ton of angles with this schedule:

The Browns opened as an underdog to the Cincinnati Bengals and have a tough start to the year, plus an early bye, that could be decisive this season.

Cleveland not having a game on Thanksgiving or Christmas this season is a relief for most fans. Instead, fans can plan around a majority of 1 PM kickoffs on Sunday with two primetime games and three west coast games being the only different start times.

The west coast games were of interest to the team even before the schedule was released. The Browns brass requested that two of their three games out west (Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams) be scheduled back to back. To save their players from three flights out west, Cleveland’s request was to allow them to stay in the area for two straight weeks.

NFL schedule makers granted their request in Weeks 12 and 13. First, the Browns will fly out to the Mountain time zone in Denver then head out to the Pacific time zone to face LA.

We will likely get details from the team as to where they might stay in between games. Likely, the Browns will want to get out to California and settle in for the week. A quick two-hour flight between the two cities either after the Broncos game or that Monday will give the team time to recover and prepare for the Rams.

Overall, saving the players from multiple long flights and allowing their bodies to adjust to the different time zones between games will be helpful. It is also helpful that the games are just after Thanksgiving but before Christmas so players won’t feel as much strain of being away from families for that time. It is also nice to see the NFL giving Cleveland’s administration what they asked for.

Do you think this will have much impact on either one of these games?