Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys prepare for frigid game at Soldier Field
Marc Trestman broke out the heaters in practice for the Bears this week.
Jason Garrett sent the Cowboys outside on a bitterly cold day in Dallas.
Both coaches were preparing for a frigid Monday night game in Chicago, with
temperatures likely to be in the teens and a wind chill possibly below zero.
“Everything we’re doing is a dress rehearsal for Monday night,” Trestman
said. “We can’t control the digits out there in terms of what the weather is.
But we can go out there and work and practice fast and do it efficiently.”
It’s like any other day for Trestman to simulate a December game in the
Windy City. Garrett was actually lucky that a rare winter storm covered the
Dallas area in ice for two days.
The Cowboys were forced inside for a day at a high school facility because
there was too much ice on their field at team headquarters Friday. But with
temperatures still in the low 20s Saturday, the Cowboys held their last full
practice of the week outside.
It didn’t really matter one way or the other to cornerback Orlando
Scandrick.
“I’m not a believer that it helps at all because whether I practice in it or
whether I play in it, you’re going to be cold,” Scandrick said. “You’re going
to have to have the mental toughness and the focus and just the will to go out
and do it.”
Dallas (7-5) got a similar break before the first of back-to-back wins.
Before facing the New York Giants two weeks ago, the first cold spell of the
season hit Dallas, and Garrett kept his players outside all week.
The Cowboys took a 21-6 lead in the third quarter, and after they squandered
it, Tony Romo led a 14-play drive to Dan Bailey’s winning field goal on the
final play.
“I think for the people that it matters, your quarterback, I think he does a
real good job of throwing in that weather,” Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said
of Romo, who played at Eastern Illinois. “He grew up in Wisconsin. I think he
plays well in it, and I think all of us have to adjust to it and be able to
handle the surface more than anything.”
Bears quarterback Josh McCown, on the other hand, grew up in Texas, played
in college there at SMU and Sam Houston State, and made more than half his NFL
starts in Arizona.
“A good hand warmer obviously is important, and those little hot packets in
there help,” said McCown, expected to make his fourth straight start with Jay
Cutler sidelined by an ankle injury. “For me, I just want my hands to feel kind
of warm, almost sweaty. That’s when I feel good.”
Romo’s centre, rookie first-round pick Travis Frederick, also grew up in
Wisconsin and remembers playing a high school game in sub-zero temperatures. He
was asked a lot about his long beard after he was drafted, with 100-degree days
coming soon.
Frederick did trim it for the summer, but it’s getting long again — and
looked a lot more appropriate during the cold spells.
“If I had to choose between really, really hot or really cold, I would
choose cold,” Frederick said.
That’s what he’ll get Monday night.
Source: http://sports.nationalpost.com/
