Marcus Mariota gave Washington’s season life. Now he must manage the time zone change in London.

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WATFORD, England — Marcus Mariota doesn’t need to look in a mirror these days to know he’s aging.

Beyond those patches of gray in his hair, he needs an IV just to finish a game. The workload of four quarters, he said, is a shock to the system.

“Age is undefeated,” fellow veteran Austin Ekeler joked. “Especially in athlete years. I’m Grandpa now.”

So what does the 32-year-old Mariota get for breathing new life into Washington’s season? How about a trip to London, where even youthful NFL players are pushed to their limits by the time zone change?

Washington took an overnight flight to England on Tuesday and went right into preparation for the Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday. Fresh off the plane, the team practiced on a retrofitted soccer field and recovered in a greenhouse, which is doubling as the Commanders’ weight room this week.

Mariota secured the Commanders their first victory of the season against the Seattle Seahawks, but he knows all his efforts would be erased by a loss to a 1-2 team on Sunday. And, if he thought last week was a challenge, this one in the U.K. will be even tougher.

At least Mariota has experience with the trek across the pond, having made the journey in 2018.

He was the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans the last time he played here, four franchises ago in Mariota’s football odyssey. His 3-3 team lost to the Philip Rivers-led Chargers. Tennessee went 9-7 that year, missing the playoffs by a game. London may have been the difference.

So this time Mariota isn’t leaving anything to chance. He’s following Washington’s training schedule, tailor-made to ease the five-hour time difference, to the minute. The Commanders showed up to England a full two days before the Colts, hoping to keep their normal practice schedule uninterrupted.

On the plane, they told their players to sleep and inundated them with fluids. Some got a bed, with varying degrees of success.

“It wasn’t that comfortable,” defensive lineman Daron Payne said, laughing.

Mariota is also hoping to squeeze in as much recovery as possible, even with the makeshift conditions. Washington chose to stay almost an hour from London, in a hotel surrounded by a golf course and sprawling gardens. While Mariota’s wife, Kiyomi, will be in London sightseeing, Mariota prescribed himself rest in the countryside.

“Win and go home,” running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt said when describing his itinerary.

Coach Dan Quinn believes the Commanders have “an awesome plan” to get the team into its normal rhythm in the days leading up to the game.

“We brought the whole show with us back from Virginia,” he said.

That show, of course, includes franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels, whom Mariota replaced last week. Daniels is recovering from a dislocated elbow. He returned to practice Wednesday wearing a brace as he threw. He will begin ramping up to football activities over the next few days.

“It’s part of our return-to-play process,” Quinn said. “Guys start on individual [drills] for the limited portion, then some of the team reps. And then more.”

Although Quinn didn’t rule Daniels out this week, it’s unlikely that he will play.

And there isn’t a rush after the way Mariota played last week. He threw for 183 yards and three touchdowns. He got the ball out quickly, hoping to avoid big hits.

He put himself in harm’s way on an 11-yard scamper that sealed Washington’s win. He isn’t the speedster who once won a Heisman Trophy — cramping up right before the drive. But Mariota strained just enough to finish it.

“I thought there was very little chance Marcus was [handing] that one off,” Quinn said. “He’s been one of the very best that’s ever done it.”

And for now Washington is hoping Mariota can conjure every ounce of his old self as he fills in as the starter.

When he arrived in London, Mariota was talking about his last time making this trip, when he was a 20-something with a full NFL career ahead of him. His worries were different then. Now he’s just upset he couldn’t be home on a Tuesday to put his kids to bed.

But he’s hoping the next time he sees them he will have done his job and handed the baton back to Daniels. And gotten some rest, too.