The Patriots are practicing for the AFC Championship at Gillette Stadium, holding off on traveling to Denver until the day before the title matchup – surprising a Massachusetts physics professor.
New England is set to fly out to Denver on Saturday, the Herald reported earlier this week, with the AFC Championship against the Jarrett Stidham-led Broncos set to kick off at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Nancy Burnham, a physics professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, says she would have thought that the Patriots would have flown out much earlier, given how Empower Field at Mile High is exactly a mile above sea level, or 5,280 feet.
That’s a difference of nearly 5,000 feet from the Patriots’ training facilities at Gillette Stadium, which stand roughly 298 feet above sea level in Foxboro.
“Given the same temperature in Gillette and Mile High, the air is about 20% less dense in Mile High, so that’s 20% less oxygen,” Burnham told the Herald on Wednesday.
“If you don’t have the oxygen, your muscles can’t do their thing,” the professor added, “so it’s a concern. I’ve been pleased to watch the Patriots’ resurgence, but I hope that they get out there soon. They’re taking a chance, they’re putting themselves at risk.”
Burnham has experience with acclimating to the altitude in Colorado, having graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1987 with a PhD in physics. She said it takes her three days or more to get used to the difference between the environment here and there.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel set the tone on Monday for the team in responding to questions around the altitude in Denver. He said the only way the team could have acclimated would have been if they traveled there last Thursday.
That scenario, obviously, would have been impossible, as the Patriots were still preparing for the Divisional Round against Houston. The team punched its ticket to Denver this past Sunday, shutting down the C.J. Stroud-led Texans.
“I think just physiologically, you have to be at altitude for longer than a day or two or three,” Vrabel told reporters earlier this week. “It takes time to do that. So, we’ll do what we’ve always done. We’ll travel, be in condition and be ready to play. That’s kind of about what it is.”
Burnham said the Patriots will have a tougher time acclimating to Denver than the Chargers and Texans did traveling from warmer climates to Foxboro for the first two rounds of the NFL playoffs. Shortness of breath, fatigue, headaches, and a reduced appetite are all symptoms of altitude sickness, she said.
“It’s almost as if you have the flu but without the runny nose and coughing,” Burnham said. “And of course, these folks are intensely competitive, so they will do their best not to have the altitude effects get in the way of their performance. But if there’s not enough oxygen … then you’re going to be affected.”
Some Patriots players have experience dealing with the mile-high altitude.
Cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who played two seasons at the University of Colorado before transferring to Oregon, smirked when asked about the altitude on Wednesday. “I’m just playing ball,” he said.
Linebacker Christian Elliss attended high school in the Denver suburbs at Valor Christian High School, about 20 miles away from Mile High. He compared playing there to how the Patriots have to adapt to the lower elevation and extreme heat and humidity in Miami.
“You’ve got to mentally prepare for it,” Elliss said of the altitude, “but it’s not anything that you have to shy away from.”
New England’s passing and kicking game will be most affected by the less-dense atmosphere in Denver, Burnham said. That means fans can expect the football to travel farther and faster than usual.
The professor added that quarterback Drake Maye will have to deal with a different spin on his passes.
“The way the spin interacts with the air, it’s a little bit like spinning a top on a table top,” Burnham said. “With the air less dense, that effect is not as strong, so it’s possible that if you’re not used to it, and you throw at Mile High, your throw might have more wobble to it.”
“The only way to prepare for it is to get out there as soon as possible and start practicing,” she added.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday afternoon, Maye admitted that he hasn’t thrown at altitude before.
“I’ve never really been to Colorado or to a place with altitude that I’ve thrown a football at,” the MVP-contending QB said, “but I think there is some adjustment to it. … Just for me, just feeling out warmups, maybe throw a few extra deep ones, see how it is. I think it’ll be pretty cool.”
The Patriots are 0-4 in Denver during the playoffs, three of those postseason losses during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick dynasty. Maye and Vrabel will look to make history of their own.
ESPN polled over 100 NFL players last year on the hardest places to play in the league. Denver came in at seventh.
The Patriots went undefeated on the road during the regular season. Veteran tight end Hunter Henry, who started his career visiting Denver as a divisional opponent with the Chargers, confirmed the atmosphere will be a challenge, with a raucous home crowd and the thin air at elevation.
“It’s a challenge, man, when that place is rolling,” Henry said after last Sunday’s 28-16 Divisional Round win. “It’s going to be extremely loud. I know it’ll be an environment. They’ll be ready to go, the elevation can be an issue. But staying hydrated, moving around a lot, we’ll be all right in a way. But I know the environment will be a lot.”
