'Wet-Ball Drills!' Cowboys Preparing for Buffalo Bad Weather
FRISCO - It is right about this time of the year that teams that prepare to travel to Buffalo do so as if they might need to travel by snowmobile.
As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said with his team approaching an NFL Week 15, “Of all the places that a home-field advantage is different than the normal games you play, it’s Buffalo, New York.”
In that regard, coach Mike McCarthy's 10-3 Cowboys are catching a break. No snow in the afternoon forecast.
But wind? Probably. Rain probably. Prep for that during practice here inside The Star? Definitely.
"Wet-ball drills,'' said Dallas coach Mike McCarthy, noting a key to the workouts.
That goes for Dak Prescott and the quarterbacks. And the center, Tyler Biadasz. And the receivers as they work on the JUGS machine. … including tight end Jake Ferguson, who at first caught a sopping-wet ball and exclaimed, “What the hell is this?!” …
And then advanced to his own personal wet-ball drills featuring dipping his hands in ice water and then plowing through a tackling gauntlet with photos of Bills players taped to the pads.
And the special-teamers, too, with Cowboys rookie Brandon Aubrey also joining Prescott in needing to be cognizant of wind issues at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
The Buffalo weather people are talking of gusts over 20 mph and rain showers late in the game.
Will that impact Dak, who has moved into the top spot for MVP odd, having thrown for 23 touchdowns and just two interceptions since the Week 5 road loss to San Francisco?
Will that impact Aubrey, the reigning NFL Special Teams Player of the Week who has been perfect on field goals all year and said he could kick a 70-yarder if the conditions are right?
Weather conditions can change, of course, and on Thursday coach McCarthy told a funny tale about an early initiation to that fact in Green Bay.
"My first playoff game, it's (former Packers coach) Mike Holmgren and the Seattle Seahawks, Mike coming to Lambeau Field,'' McCarthy remembered. "And we're out there for pregame saying, 'Man, what a beautiful night, 33 and clear. ...
"And then, after pregame, we come back out (of the locker room) to three inches of snow!''
What happened in that Packers playoff game?
"What happened? We turned the ball over,'' McCarthy said modestly, "and were behind 14-0 real quick!''
We say "modestly'' because what McCarthy forgets to mention is that his Brett Favre-led team obviously adjusted to the weather on the fly ... as his Packers advanced to the NFC title game in his first season in Green Bay as they overcame that 14-0 deficit to win, 42-20.
McCarthy coached in the Wisconsin elements for 13 years. And he adjusted to the elements just fine his very first time in charge. ... so Cowboys Nation can probably trust that he'll do his best to handle the same on Sunday in Buffalo.
