Kenico Hines might be the key to making Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens comfortable in the hostile playoff environment of Western New York in Sunday’s divisional playoff game with the Buffalo Bills.
Hines is the head equipment manager for the Ravens, who are bracing for bitter cold in a rematch with Buffalo this weekend to decide which team advances to the AFC Championship game. At kickoff time Sunday night, the temperature is forecast to be 12 degrees with a “feels like” high of 4 degrees.
In a showdown between the top two candidates for MVP in the NFL this season, Lamar Jackson identified the 22-year veteran as priority personnel at Buffalo.
“Hopefully, we’ll have some heaters on the sideline. A bigger jacket probably. I have to talk to Kenico to see what he has going on,” Jackson said of Hines, who has been on Baltimore’s staff since 2012 and previously worked for the Chicago Bears. “The equipment guys – they pretty much do a great job, so we should be good.”
Jackson has never started a game in which the temperature at kickoff was below 27 degrees (twice). One of those games was a 35-10 win over the Houston Texans in 2023 and the other a 27-24 overtime loss to the Chiefs in 2018, his fourth career start. Jackson lost a fumble but had a passer rating of 100.0 with two TD passes, completing 13 of 24 passes for 147 yards.
But Jackson predetermined he’s passing on wearing gloves in the game. Tackified gloves have been worn in the coldest of environments by quarterbacks from Peyton Manning to Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger to Teddy Bridgewater. When temperatures are well below freezing, handling a football can quickly devolve into a slick operation of capture the pigskin.
“I tried that in practice,” Jackson said of wearing gloves in-game. “I was horrible. I’ll leave that up to ‘Teddy Two Gloves,’ Teddy Bridgewater. Shoutout to Teddy.”
Often discussed hand size measurements taken as prospects enter the NFL at the Scouting Combine could become a factor in wintry conditions. Jackson measured 9.5 inches. By comparison, Allen was 10.125 inches, Manning 10.13, Brady 9 3/8; Joe Burrow and Jared Goff measured 9 inches.
Bridgewater, who wore gloves on both hands, measured in the 25th percentile of all quarterbacks since 2000 with a hand size of 9 1/4.
The Ravens were unable to practice outdoors on Wednesday, but for good reason: the ground was frozen.
“Would love to be outside, but we just can’t. The fields are too hard and they’re too frozen,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh has the Ravens working in icebox conditions Thursday. He said it’s so cold in the Owings Mills, Md., facility that water was shut off to prevent frozen pipes.
Overall, Jackson is 3-1 as a starter in games with temperatures at or below 32 degrees. His most recent outing in such conditions was last week. He completed 16 of 21 passes in Baltimore’s 28-14 wild-card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The gametime temp was 32 degrees.
The Bills are an NFL-best 14-2 under head coach Sean McDermott when the temperature is under 32 degrees, according to the team. Allen wore a glove and tape on his left hand earlier this season to protect an injury.
–Field Level Media
