A December night game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field is sure to feature frigid temperatures, posing an inherent challenge for a team from the southern half of the country. So the New Orleans Saints are literally preparing for that environment.
“(Quarterbacks coach Andrew) Janocko took us to the freezer in the cafeteria, where it was like 10 degrees, and we were going over the whole script in there,” Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler said Saturday, according to ESPN. “Just doing that helped a lot. So hopefully it won’t be 10 degrees, but we’ll be ready.”
It’s scheduled to be 31 degrees in Green Bay at kickoff, which is 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday, but it will feel like 27 degrees with 5 mph winds, according to The Weather Channel.
Janocko, 36, is in his first season as the Saints’ quarterbacks coach. He was previously quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears (2022-23) and held several offensive coaching positions with the Minnesota Vikings from 2015 to 2021.
Last week, Rattler came off the bench in relief of Jake Haener against the Washington Commanders, nearly leading the Saints back from a 17-point second-half deficit before a botched two-point conversion attempt as time expired. . The rookie from South Carolina threw for 135 yards and a touchdown in the 20-19 loss.
Monday night’s game against the 10-4 Packers will be Rattler’s fourth NFL start. To date, he has 706 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, two interceptions, and a 73.1 passer rating while completing 57.5% of his passes. The Saints are 0-3 in Rattler’s three starts; he has appeared in four games combined.
New Orleans is 5-9, three games behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South and a longshot to make the playoffs. Starting quarterback Derek Carr missed three games in October due to an oblique injury and is now expected to miss the rest of the season due to a hand injury, which he suffered in the Saints’ win in the Week 14 on the New York Giants.
“I think there’s something we said about just preparing for (the cold), so you’re not surprised and it’s not something surprising,” Rattler said of the freezer practice. “It’s something you deal with as you prepare for the opponent and the venue. So I thought it was good to do something a little different. This time of year, it’s fun to do different things. It’s a long season and sometimes, in addition to just sitting in a meeting day after day, just doing something different, changing the scenery.
“The kids thought it was really funny. The cafeteria workers think I’m crazy.”
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New Orleans Saints
Spencer Rattler
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