ARLINGTON, Texas -- Normally, Jerry Jones carries the confidence of a man sure of many things, but as the Cowboys owner and general manager arrived at AT&T Stadium Sunday for the home opener against the Washington Commanders, he wasn't.
As he got out of his SUV, Jones walked over to a group of fans taking a tour of the stadium when he spotted a Commanders supporter.
"Tell 'em to be sweet to us," Jones laughed.
About five hours later, with the Cowboys beating Washington 37-20, Jones was able to smile.
"I really was worried about what it was going to be like if we did end up 0-2," Jones said. "And I can't say that I was a color of strength in my mentality coming into the game because I've got a lot of respect for the coaching over on the Washington Commander side. But having said all of that, this was a very important win for us, important to these guys who put the work in, the coaching staff for [coach Brian Schottenheimer], and I'm really proud of him."
A 10-hour flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday would have felt even longer had the Cowboys lost to Washington and dropped to 0-2 with two NFC East losses. Quarterback Dak Prescott knew of the importance of the victory as they now get ready to play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS).
"We need to get this win. We need to get in the win column. We're back home. We need to win all of our games at home," Prescott said. "And you can't go 0-2 in the conference or the division, so, yeah, this was a must win."
The Cowboys' preparation for their trip to Brazil started last March when they caught wind that they would be selected to play their first international "home" game. The organization sent a team from the operations department to Brazil to look at the practice facilities and hotels available to them. They sent materials via cargo ship starting in June. Another plane filled with gear will arrive before the team this week.
After flying through the night Thursday, the Cowboys will have a quick workout on Friday at the training center for Flamengo, one of Brazil's first-division soccer clubs. On Saturday, they will get a brief look at Maracanã Stadium, where Sunday's game will be held, before holding a walkthrough in their hotel.
The players were off Monday and Schottenheimer is following a short-week plan with practices on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before they board their American Airlines 777-300ER flight. Most of the players will have a first-class-type seat for the journey.
Since training camp, Schottenheimer has been mindful of how the Cowboys worked, since the game in Rio is followed by a Week 4 trip -- albeit short -- to the Houston Texans and then a four-day turnaround to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a Thursday night game on Oct. 8.
With the Texas heat, the Cowboys have not had a full practice outdoors. Schottenheimer's sports science team, which includes the athletic training staff, strength coaches, nutrition staff and the analytics department, has made recommendations the coach has followed.
"I think the cool thing is the players have really bought in to the recovery aspect of this; massages and we spent a bunch of money on recovery things and new resources with the saunas and stuff in the train room," Schottenheimer said.
The Cowboys are accustomed to altered schedules with their annual Thanksgiving game and plethora of primetime games, but playing in Rio will be an adjustment. When the Cowboys played the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014 at Wembley Stadium, the team flew to London for the entire week, practicing at the home of a rugby club.
"[Routine is] very important because I feel like routine is preparation" receiver CeeDee Lamb said. "Preparation is everything. Preparation is more confidence for me because once you go out there every day in practice and you running these routes, from our perspective, you run these routes all week long, you got your trial and errors, you've ran it versus different coverages, so you got a feel for it.
"I feel like just being prepared in the moment and going out there and letting loose, I feel like that's when the game is the most fun. You're not thinking too much and [you're] playing a child's game."
How will it be this week?
"We'll get to that," Lamb said.
Linebacker Von Miller has played in two international games in his career and admits he might have a different perspective than some.
"To grow our game, we've got to have international games," Miller said. "So when somebody comes to a football game and is able to witness football for the first time, that's how we grow our game, that's how we get teams overseas, that's how we continue to make and keep our league the best league on earth. So even though I understand it's a challenge for the players, I know it's worth it. I know it's worth it for the future of the game."
Defensive tackle Kenny Clark and edge rusher Rashan Gary played in São Paulo two years ago with the Green Bay Packers against the Philadelphia Eagles. The field for that game was an issue, and reports came out late last week of complaints about the state of the field at the Maracanã with it being bumpy and uneven.
"The way we play, it's unbelievable that we're playing on a field like this," Flamengo goalkeeper Agustín Rossi said. "Both penalty areas are bad as [expletive]. If you look at it, there are bumps everywhere. There's still going to be an NFL game here during the international break. After that game, I hope the field is in better shape."
Schottenheimer is aware of what has been said.
"I trust that the league's going to make the right decision and they'll get the field up to standard," Schottenheimer said.
NFL field director Nick Pappas said Monday there are "no concerns right now" about the field conditions.
Kicker Brandon Aubrey might be most impacted by the status of the field. The former pro soccer player trained with São Paolo FC when he was with the Dallas Texans soccer club as a youngster. He knows the history of the Brazilian national soccer team, if not their club soccer.
"I know a lot of people have told me it's a big deal to be there," Aubrey said. "It's a big deal to play soccer in Brazil. Hopefully football means the same. It won't mean the same to them as soccer, but hopefully they come out in the same way and support us. Hopefully we earn some new fans. Excited to play in front of fresh eyes and show them a game that we love here and hopefully they can fall in love with it as well."