Jake Elliott: Weather is always a problem on game days
The weather for Sunday late afternoon and evening at Lincoln Financial Field? Hey, it’s January. It’s murky. It’s all about managing the situation, and no one does it better than placekicker Jake Elliott, who has been on top of the weather forecast since Sunday.
He checks the forecast, oh… well… how many times a week?
“I’ve gotten a lot better over the years,” he says with a laugh. “There’s always something to consider, usually the wind. If something happens, I try to go out there and figure out what our playing time would be and see what the conditions are going to be.”
West, northwest. This is the wind flow expected for Sunday.
“It’s going to be a tough day, but I’ve seen a lot and you just have to play until the end,” Elliott said.
This season has been pretty bad weather-wise – intense wind in the games against Detroit and Chicago, rain against the Raiders, cold at times. Always something.
The Eagles installed new turf earlier this week and Elliott has already tested it alongside Tony Leonard, the team’s vice president of grounds.
“He’s the best and the field is really great,” Elliott said. “It’s not a problem at all because Tony and his team always do a great job. Weather? You just know there’s always going to be some sort of factor and you do your best to mitigate that.
“It’s the playoffs. It’s January and we’re out in the Northeast. You get used to it after a while and I’m grateful to have been here this long and I’ve gotten used to it.”
