The New England Patriots are no strangers to psychological warfare, using every means possible to gain that extra edge over opponents. Sunday’s game against the New York Jets began with 13 degree temperatures at kickoff, and just to make sure New York remembered that it is, in fact, cold, the Patriots apparently played a bit of gamesmanship:
A source with the Patriots tells me Bill Belichick ordered the field crew to place these thermometers inside the Jets tunnel so New York is reminded how cold it is. Mental warfare. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/I7IwcZQZXf
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) December 31, 2017
“A source with the Patriots tells me Bill Belichick ordered the field crew to place these thermometers inside the Jets tunnel so New York is reminded how cold it is. Mental warfare,” ESPN’s Diana Russini tweeted.
And it wasn’t just the tunnel thermometer, either:
Apparently I’m on thermometer patrol. Thermometers places behind Jets bench. None behind the Patriots. #dundundun
— Dianna Russini (@diannaESPN) December 31, 2017
“Thermometers place[d] behind Jets bench,” Russini tweeted. “None behind the Patriots.”
The Patriots haters will no doubt point to this as an example of New England scrabbling for any extra scrap of motivation (or de-motivation), but come on: this kind of stuff happens everywhere. The visiting team gets the terrible locker room, the route to the bus that goes past angry fans, the terrible postgame spread. That’s how it goes. Plus, if the Jets need to be reminded that it’s cold out there, they’ve got much bigger problems.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.
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