Frigid cold is forecast for Sunday's playoff clash between the Green Bay Packers and visiting New York Giants on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field in Wisconsin, and there is not much one can do to prepare.
"You know you're going to freeze your butt off," Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas, who played his college football at the University of Wisconsin, told Reuters on Wednesday.
The temperature is forecast to be about minus 14 Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) for the wild card showdown on the first weekend of the National Football League playoffs.
"You got to be mentally preparing yourself for a cold that you have never felt, so mentally you don't defeat yourself," said Casillas.
"I don't think anyone here has played in that temperature before other than Eli (quarterback Manning) and (long snapper Zak) DeOssie," he added, referring to veterans of the face-numbing 2007 NFC title game won in Green Bay by the Giants.
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Rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard said coaches were trying to get pass catchers prepared.
"They're putting the ball in freezers, bringing different balls out just because the ball will be a little bit harder," Shepard said.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers did not see the weather as a difference maker.
"Both teams are fine playing in the cold weather. But it definitely is a wrinkle," he said.
"There is a premium on ball security when the weather gets cold and if there's any type of precipitation or wind."
Casillas said players would use ointment or lotion to help keep their skin warm, wear double gloves, double socks, keep hand warmers going and stand near the heaters on the sidelines.
But competitive fire was the best antidote.
"Adrenalin is the number one factor, absolutely," said Casillas. "I feel for the coaches and guys on the sidelines. They don't have adrenalin on their side like we do."
