IRVING, Texas – Temperatures in Dallas climbed close to 60 on Tuesday afternoon, which drew a stark contrast of what's to come for the Cowboys.
Yes, the temperatures in Texas are expected to drop in the coming days, and the Cowboys will be practicing in 30-degree temperatures for much of this week.
None of that compares to the forecast in Green Bay, where temperatures aren't expected to climb above 19 degrees – dipping below zero on several occasions.
"It's probably going to be cold there. I have a pretty good feeling about that," said Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. "Whatever the numbers say, we have to deal with those elements. That's what happens when you go up to Green Bay this time of year."
The Cowboys have a full week to prepare for the brunt of the cold, though it's debatable if that will be of any assistance. Tyrone Crawford is plenty familiar with cold weather, being from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where it was eight degrees and snowing on Tuesday. His advice was a bit blunt.
"There's not much you can do. There's nothing you can do to be ready for it, just go out there and man it up," he said. "You can put sleeves on, you can do all the little remedies learned over the years, but not much really works."
Several in-house remedies will likely be in effect in getting ready for the trip. Plenty of Cowboys players are bound to bundle up in multiple layers, and there's the often-seen trick of using petroleum jelly on the skin to keep in the heat.
"Little bit of extra clothing might always help, but there's some guys that don't wear any clothing at all because they feel it might hold them back a little bit," said Cole Beasley.
Offensive linemen are famous for wearing as little as possible to protect from the cold. Two of the Cowboys' most visible blockers, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin, should be used to it, as they're from Wisconsin and Indiana, respectively.
Surprisingly, Crawford – the Canadian – shared a more practical attitude about bundling up.
"We're not going to try to prove anything to anybody by doing what the O-Line does and be manly, or whatever," he said. "If we're cold, you're supposed to wear something when you're cold. You're not going to wear sweaters in the summer."
Added Beasley: "Really, for me, as long as I'm comfortable out there, it won't affect the way I play."
Beasley is one of many Cowboys players unaccustomed to the frigid conditions at Lambeau Field. The roster features guys from places like Texas, Florida Georgia and California. Fortunately, anyone who's been in the locker room for even a year has an experience to draw on.
It's only been 13 months since the Cowboys traveled to Chicago for a Monday Night Football game played at zero degrees, as the Bears hosted Dallas on an arctic night at Soldier Field.
"We definitely played in a real cold game before, last year," Beasley said. "That was against Chicago – that was the coldest game I've ever been a part of. I don't know if it will get that cold."
Dallas wound up losing that game, 45-28, in a lopsided effort. As cold as it might have been, that was far more the result of a leaky defense than harsh weather conditions.
"We're a far better team than we were in Chicago then, so I think it will be alright," Beasley said.
The focus, as always, is to keep the focus on things that can be controlled. It seems unlikely that the weather at kickoff will factor into that conversation. Like so many other external factors, the Cowboys will be expected to process the cold and move on – some moreso than others.
"You don't want to have your hands in your pockets this week," Crawford said. "Any time of showing that you're cold this week is bad in front of Coach Garrett, definitely – I am from Canada, that's not allowed for me."
