Ravens Try to Practice in Cold but Fields ‘Too Hard, Too Frozen’

Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens looks on during the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the AFC Wild Card Playoff at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md., on Jan. 11, 2025. Al Bello/Getty Images

The Baltimore Ravens are doing their best to prepare for bone-chilling temperatures ahead of their matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

The Ravens travel to Buffalo for the AFC Divisional Playoff matchup with the Bills at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday evening. The high is expected to be around 22 degrees Fahrenheit, with a low of about 8, according to The Weather Channel. The Ravens are trying to simulate the frigid conditions but are having trouble since their outdoor practice fields are too cold and hard to practice on.

“The fields are frozen,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said at a press conference Thursday.

A reporter asked Harbaugh whether the difference between the teens and low 20s and 30-degree temperatures makes a difference. Harbaugh responded that the temperature gap does make a difference but it does not affect the game itself. He then elaborated on the practice conditions.

“We have it as cold as we can in here right now, and it'll be colder in here tomorrow when I get all the water shut off in here so the pipes don’t freeze, so we can be colder,” he said. “So, we‘ll have it cold. [I would] love to be outside but we just can’t. The fields are too hard, and they’re too frozen. We’ll get the work in. We’ve had a lot of work in the cold, we’ve had a lot of work in the wind.”

It is not nearly as cold in Baltimore as it will be in Buffalo Sunday, according to The Weather Channel’s forecast. At the time of writing of this piece, the temperature in Baltimore sits at 19 degrees. The mercury will climb somewhat on Thursday, with a high of 35 degrees and a low of 29.

The other primary concern for Baltimore will be getting traction on the field in Buffalo.

“We want to make sure we have good footing on that field,” coach Harbaugh said. “It’s a turf field, and it'll be hard and kind of frozen. We’re trying to think about all of that, but really, what we’re thinking about is just executing our plays at the highest level we possibly can.”

The field will be hard likely due to precipitation this week. According to Keystone Sports Construction, a company that installs turf fields, natural turf freezes due to the water content in the grass, and the ground underneath it also freezes. Since it has no water, artificial turf does not freeze unless there is water on the surface in the form of rain or snow. It is expected to snow on Thursday, with a rain/snow mix on Saturday expected as well. The ground would likely also be frozen due to the sustained cold.

The Ravens players are also preparing for the cold. “Hopefully, we'll have some heaters on the sideline,” quarterback Lamar Jackson—clad in a pullover hood—said at his own press conference. “Bigger jacket, probably. I have to talk to Kenico [Hines], the equipment guy to see what he got going on. [The] equipment guys—they pretty much do a great job, though, so we should be good.”

Asked by a reporter whether he would wear gloves or not, Lamar said no. “I tried that in practice. I was horrible,” he said. “I‘ll leave that up to ’Teddy two gloves,'” a joking reference to Detroit Lions quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who unlike other quarterbacks, wears a glove on both his throwing and off hand.

“I’m trying to win, so it really don’t matter,” Jackson added. “I can’t go into a game and be like, ‘It’s too cold, I can’t make things happen. Coach would probably send me home. [General Manager] Eric [DeCosta] would probably try and have me go upstairs and talk to him. So I gotta lock in in the cold.”