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Outdoors-men

Email|Link|Comments (4) Posted by Mike Reiss, Globe Staff December 18, 2008 04:44 PM

FOXBOROUGH -- The Patriots practiced in nasty elements inside Gillette Stadium on Wednesday. Today, they were outside again, this time on the lower practice field behind the stadium.

The outdoors work was planned in advance, as coach Bill Belichick opened the week with the intention of having his players work through whatever the elements had to offer.

The message seems to be that it's late December -- with a home game against Arizona (Dec. 21) and a road finale at Buffalo (Dec. 28) -- so be prepared to play in anything.

"It think it definitely helps," kicker Stephen Gostkowski said. "Whether it's cold, or windy, whatever it is, it's always good to get used to it in practice. It gets your blood thickened up a little bit. It always seems a bit easier in the games because you have those heated benches. It's always good to make it tougher for yourself during the week so it seems easier on game day."

Linebacker Mike Vrabel defied the elements by wearing shorts.

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4 comments so far...

Weather might only play a small part in Sundays game, but you can't get around the fact that Arizona & Warner in particular have not played well in the cold. Nevermind snow.

When are the Cardinals supposed to get into town?
Tomorrow, Logan & Providence will both be stacked up.

Posted by Rob December 18, 08 05:15 PM

I think the fact that the weaher is bad, and cold, in northern cities in December is overplayed a bit, Many, if not most, of the players on most NFL teams have had many years of experience playing on college teams in bad weather situations. It is not a new experience for most of them.

Just because a team has the name "Arizona" or "Miami" for example, in front of their nickname does not mean that they have never played in winter conditions.

Posted by Mike Allen December 18, 08 09:10 PM

Mike Vrabel, I love you!!!!

Posted by MN Pats Fan December 19, 08 12:53 AM

Mike Allen,

I agree with you. However, it is proven that teams from warm climates do not perform well in cold climates in december and january. Of course, there have been exceptions.

Posted by Blair from Canada December 19, 08 09:25 AM

DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON MORE THAN ONCE!

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Mike Reiss, Christopher L. Gasper and the rest of the Globe team provide regular updates –and a behind-the-scenes look– on the daily happenings of the Patriots.

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