The Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field has long been NFL lore, and the elements in Green Bay in winter are a tangible advantage for the Packers, especially when playing domed teams or franchises hailing from far warmer locales.
Monday night, with a playoff berth and postseason positioning at stake for the Packers, the New Orleans Saints come to town with little to play for, their former head coach long deposed and starting quarterback Derek Carr sidelined with a broken fibula.
Still, Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko has left no stone unturned to prepare for the elements, including a truly bizarre way to get backup quarterback Spencer Rattler ready for the frigid temperatures expected on Monday night.
New Orleans Saints Visit a Freezer to Prepare for Packers
Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
With temperatures expected to hover around freezing at kickoff Monday night, and snowfall expected for much of the day, Janocko came up with an unorthodox way to get Rattler used to the cold.
He took Rattler to a freezer.
According to ESPN New Orleans Saints reporter Kat Terrell, Janocko was inspired by the movie “Cool Runnings” and spent some time alongside the frozen vegetables with his quarterbacks before boarding the flight to Wisconsin.
“This morning, Janocko took us in the cafeteria freezer, where it was like 10 degrees, and we’re just going through the whole script in there, and so just doing that, that helped a lot,” Rattler said. “So hopefully it’s not 10 degrees, but we’ll be ready.”
There’s a very real possibility that Monday night will be the coldest game Rattler has ever played in, after all, he grew up in Phoenix, Ariz., and played college ball at South Carolina and the University of Oklahoma.
Still … A freezer?
“I think there’s something we said about just preparing for [the cold], so you’re not shocked and it’s not something surprising,” Janocko said, via ESPN. “It’s something that you deal with as far as you prepare for the opponent and prepare for the venue. So I just thought it was good to do something a little different. At this time of the year, it’s fun to do different stuff. It’s a long season and sometimes other than just sitting in a meeting day after day after day, just doing something different, changing up the scene. Guys thought it was hilarious. The cafeteria workers think I’m out of my mind.”
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