During coach Kyle Shanahan’s first six seasons with the 49ers, the club had back-to-back road games that led them to practice weeks in Ohio, Florida and three times in West Virginia.
When the NFL released its schedule in May, the 49ers learned that their toughest matchups were in Weeks 6 and 7.
The 49ers play Sunday on the road against the Cleveland Browns. They return to action next Monday night against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The organization decided months ago to return home after their game in Cleveland and prepare to face the Vikings in their usual routine at the team’s training facility in Santa Clara.
“Since we had an extra day, it didn’t bother us too much,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “We’re coming back here, and we’ve got eight days a week, which is really unusual in this league. So we didn’t feel like we needed to do that.”
The 49ers land in San Jose at 8:30 PM PT on Sunday after their 19-17 loss to the Browns.
The early arrival time home allowed the players and coaches to get a normal night’s sleep despite the four-and-a-half hour flight.
Because of Monday’s upcoming game, the 49ers will travel a day later. The team and the traveling team are scheduled to arrive in Minneapolis on Saturday evening.
Shanahan said he’s thinking about the future, too.
After the Cleveland-Minnesota games, the 49ers will face a challenge during a short week before their game against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 29 at Levi’s Stadium.
“We also know how miserable next week is going to be when we have a six-day week and come back (from Minnesota) and land at 5 a.m. that six-day week,” Shanahan said.
“I wanted the guys to be home this week because we know what it’s going to be like for the next 14 days or so.”
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