Located at 5,280 feet above sea level, Empower Field at Mile High offers a unique home field advantage for the Denver Broncos.
Whereas their players are in a familiar environment, visiting teams will have to get ready not just for the Broncos themselves as well as a hostile fanbase but also the effects of the altitude can have. On Sunday, those tasks fall on the New England Patriots, who will travel to Denver for the AFC Championship Game.
So, how do the Patriots plan to prepare? By following the simplest
possible plan: business as usual.
“Other than going out there last Thursday, which wouldn’t have been an ideal situation considering we had to play last night, but I think just physiologically you have to be at altitude for longer than a day or two or three,” said head coach Mike Vrabel. “It takes time to do that. So, we’ll do what we’ve always done. We’ll travel, be in condition and be ready to play. That’s kind of about what it is.”
In the past, the Patriots have opted for varying strategies to adapt to playing in Denver. Ultimately, none of them proved significantly more effective than others. This makes sense given Vrabel’s explanation that it takes over a week to fully acclimate to the change in altitude.
As a consequence, the Patriots will spend the week in Foxborough and practice at their Gillette Stadium facility at 298 feet above sea level. That is the established and straight-forward method of preparation, and for Vrabel the more attractive one.
“No tricks,” he said. “Just play well, try to be prepared and the better condition that you are, the less of an impact that that’s going to make. There’s no tricks.”
Safety Craig Woodson echoed his head coach’s remarks about not switching anything up.
“Our record says it. We’re 8-0 on the road. So, I don’t think there’s anything that we really need to change up,” the rookie defender explained. “We’ve had success on the road. We’re going to continue to have success. So, I don’t think we need to change up anything. We just prepare like we usually do and we’ll be ready.”
