Warm reception to cold inquiries
FOXBORO — The stats will tell you that the Patriots fare well when the temperature dips down into freezing-level territory, but, really, their record any time of year tops your average team.
So when Tom Brady was approached yesterday about how the Patriots are a good coldweather team, the quarterback’s sarcastic response (“Really? Are we?”) was fair.
But as forecasters project one of the most frigid games in team history for Sunday’s regular-season finale against the New York Jets, the practical approach to dealing with the elements will vary from player to player, according to those interviewed.
In a nutshell, the rule is not unlike any professional fashion choice: Wear what works best for you, so long as it doesn’t interfere with the job itself.
As safety Duron Harmon said, “You’ve got to find your method, your method to staying warm.”
That can be a little more complex than it sounds.
“Gotta have a balance,” Harmon said. “You don’t want to have too much stuff on (and) can’t move because then you get yelled at for not practicing well. You’ve got to find that balance between comfort level from being able to move standpoint and comfort level from being warm enough.”
And with coach Bill Belichick, dialing down comfort level in practice leads to better performance in games.
“We’ve got our hand warmers but we don’t got our heated benches out there (in practice),” Harmon said. “It’s just another element to make us more mentally tough.”
It allows the players to hone that method.
“I just think you kind of know exactly what to wear,” Brady said. “You know what to wear. You know how many layers. You know how many heat packs. It’s all about practicing and getting used to it and it’s no surprise when you get (to a game).”
That varies from player to player, though, as rookie offensive lineman Cole Croston, an Iowa native, aptly described.
“I bring out my hand warmers and I wear gloves,” Croston said. “I wear gloves under my gloves. Some guys have different routines. For linemen, necessarily, we’re 300 pounds so we have a couple extra layers on us already. I’m going to wear a sweatshirt and gloves outside, while (wide receiver Phillip) Dorsett (a South Florida native) wears three layers and two gloves. So I think everyone has their own routine.”
Defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois is in his ninth year in the league. He grew up in Miami, where, as he put it, “the coldest it gets is only 50 and people treat 50 like it’s below zero.”
He advises players from that part of the country to embrace the circumstance.
“Have fun with it. Have fun,” said Jean Francois, who plans on wearing gloves and two shortsleeve thermals underneath his pads Sunday. “You might not be blessed to have the opportunity to tell your kids and your friends, who would probably never come up to this weather this way, you can say you’ve played in (minus-6 degree weather).”