Jake Elliott: Weather is always an issue on gamedays
The weather for Sunday late afternoon and evening at Lincoln Financial Field? Hey, it’s January. It’s murky. It’s all about handling it, and nobody does that 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 each week?
“I’ve gotten a lot better through the years,” he said, laughing. “There is always something to consider, usually the wind. If there is something going on, I try to get over there and kick at what our game time would be and see what the conditions are going to be like.”
West, northwest. That is the wind flow expected for Sunday.
“It will be a tricky day, but I’ve seen it a bunch and you just have to play through it,” Elliott said.
This season has been pretty lousy for weather – intense wind in games against Detroit and Chicago, rain against the Raiders, cold at times. Always something.
The Eagles put new turf down early in the 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. “That’s not a concern at all because Tony and his staff always do such a great job. The weather? You just know there is always going to be some kind of factor and you do the best you can to mitigate that.
“It’s the playoffs. It’s January and we’re outside in the Northeast. You get used to it after a while and I’m thankful to have been here for so long and I have become accustomed to this.”
