Former Patriots OL coach Dante Scarnecchia: I don’t think cold will impact Mac Jones

Over his 36-year career in the NFL, including 34 spent with the Patriots, Dante Scarnecchia coached in plenty of frosty games.

So the Pats’ former offensive line coach has a pretty good idea what the Patriots and Bills will be up against Saturday night in their Wild Card playoff game, when temperatures are expected to near zero degrees. For those who think the cold won’t be a factor, think again.

“The 14-mile-an-hour winds won’t be a factor, but the cold will be,” Scarnecchia said Thursday when reached by the Herald. “It takes a hearty person to go out there and pretend that it’s not. But it is.”

One of the chief outside concerns with the Patriots is how Mac Jones will adapt to the weather. He’s a Florida native, and hasn’t played in many games with such extreme conditions. Scarnecchia, however, doesn’t believe the rookie will be affected too much.

“He’s been practicing in it for a long time. I don’t think it’s going to impact him, maybe as much as others do,” he said. “The thing is, both teams are well prepared for it. There’s no advantage there for anyone.”

As for the winds, which will fall well short of the 50 MPH gusts that defined the teams’ last meeting in Buffalo, Scarnecchia explained why Saturday’s swirls shouldn’t be a problem for either side.

“I think 14 mile-an-hour winds is just doing business. In late winter in New England, that’s just doing business,” he said. “You frequently see it in our stadium that way. So 14 mile-an-hour winds is negligible in a lot of respects. The first game, that was pretty extreme. That kills you.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3qoZZJg