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Tom Brady isn't ready to give in to the elements, neither is Bill Belichick. New England is a cold weather team, and Cold is in the forecast. That bodes well for the Patriots who have a pretty good track record in this weather.
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FOXBOROUGH, MASS. (AP)
Bill Belichick doesn't masquerade as a meteorologist.
However, the New England coach once again has his team acclimated for
whatever inclement weather may swoop in Sunday for the season finale
against Miami.
Rather than shifting practice indoors as they have before, the Patriots
practiced outside Thursday despite cold, driving rain, and again Friday
in chilly temperatures in anticipation of a winter storm expected to
dump a few inches of snow late Saturday.
Temperatures are expected to hover in the mid-to-low 20s for kickoff
Sunday afternoon.
''Whatever we get Sunday, we get. We're not trying to forecast it,''
Belichick said. ''We'll just practice in whatever comes. I'm sure
sooner or later we'll get something similar.''
For the second straight year, though, the region has endured a tepid
winter in the month of December, a far cry from some of the more
memorable games played in the snow at Gillette Stadium.
And that might be just fine with the Dolphins (7-8). But some members
of the Patriots (11-4) are welcoming this long overdue cold front.
''It doesn't bother us,'' linebacker Jerod Mayo said. ''You don't see a
lot of us out there in sleeves. When you see other teams coming from
other places, they're kind of sleeved up a little bit.''
Yet whether rain, snow or sunshine, Miami has had its share of
difficulties traveling to Foxborough since quarterback Tom Brady took
the reigns of New England's offense in 2001.
The Patriots are 9-2 at home against the Dolphins since then, and the
two losses didn't occur on Brady's watch, either. Brady was already
sidelined for the season when New England and backup quarterback Matt Cassel lost to Miami in September 2008, and the three-time Super Bowl
MVP played just one quarter before resting for the playoffs in a 28-26
setback on New Year's Day in 2005.
It only gets worse for the Dolphins in the winter, too. Miami is 1-6 in
Foxborough in either December or January over the past 11 seasons.
Call it a home-field advantage.
''I wouldn't say that it's advantageous, but I definitely feel like I
can play in the snow,'' said rookie defensive end Chandler Jones. ''I
like playing in the snow, to be honest with you. The cold weather
doesn't affect me at all.''
The Patriots defense is well aware that the unpredictable climate could
play a pivotal role in ball security. Members of the secondary are on
high alert for turnovers.
Considering New England is second in the league with 39 takeaways,
though, that's nothing new.
''I think you've got to have a heightened awareness when you get in
these games because no matter how mentally strong guys are, it does
change things - your hands get cold and different things like that,''
safety Devin McCourty said. ''Defensively, we definitely try to have
more of an awareness to try to attack the ball.''
Just because the Dolphins typically play half of their games under the
warm southern sun doesn't mean they're going to freeze at the first
sight of snow.
In fact, another warm-weather team - the San Francisco 49ers - traveled
to New England on a cold, rainy night two weeks ago and overpowered the
Patriots, handing them their lone loss over their past nine games.
''They're a professional football team, they'll be ready to go,''
McCourty said. ''I don't think it's nothing new for them They've done
it before, they did it last year, so I'm sure they'll be ready to go.''
And after already playing a pair of December games in Florida, the
Patriots are embracing whatever weather rolls their way.
''We've had a very fortunate December around here. It's been good,''
Mayo said. ''Our other games we had were in Miami and in Jacksonville.
The weather won't be a problem at all. We enjoy the rain.''
Mayo then shifted his focus to the true opponent.
''We're not playing the weather,'' he added, ''we're playing the
Dolphins.''
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