Patriots Gave Rookies This Necessary Gift Ahead Of Jets Game
FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots could play their first snow game of the season Sunday. They made sure their first-year players are preparing accordingly.
During Wednesday’s open locker room period, multiple New England rookies were seen carrying orange-and-black snow brushes. Guard Atonio Mafi confirmed each rookie received one ahead of a weekend that could feature wintery conditions.
As of Wednesday afternoon, multiple local forecasts and the National Weather Service called for temperatures in the low 30s and snow in the Foxboro area Sunday afternoon. The Patriots are scheduled to host the New York Jets at 1 p.m. ET that day in the season finale for both teams.
If that forecast holds, it would be the first snow-game experience for multiple Patriots newbies. Mafi, who grew up in San Mateo, Calif., and attended UCLA, said he never even saw snow until a few weeks ago.
The fifth-round pick also needed some lessons on how to use the brush/scraper he received. Mafi said he recently woke up to find frost on his windshield and, unsure of how to remove it, resorted to sitting in his car until it melted.
Slot receiver DeMario Douglas was in a similar boat. The St. Augustine, Fla., native hasn’t played in the snow and didn’t know what the snow brush was when he arrived at Gillette Stadium and found one next to his locker.
“Honestly, when this was right here, I thought they wanted us to clean up,” Douglas told ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “… I’m from Florida, so I’m new to this right here, for sure.”
It wasn’t just the warm-weather rookies, though. Punter Bryce Baringer, who saw plenty of snow while growing up in Michigan and playing his college ball at Michigan State, also was carrying a scraper as he exited the locker room.
The Patriots clearly want to avoid another Adalius Thomas Jetsons situation as they close out their 2023 season. They’ll hold their final two practices Thursday and Friday before welcoming the Jets to a potentially snowy Gillette on Sunday.