Cleveland Browns aware of, but not worried about, forecast for snow in Buffalo

The latest:Snowstorm forces Cleveland Browns-Buffalo Bills game to Detroit's Ford Field

BEREA — Jacoby Brissett knows what could be awaiting the Browns on Sunday at Buffalo. Not from the Bills, but from Mother Nature, which is expected to potentially dump feet — that's plural — of snow on Western New York.

Brissett, after all, has been in Highmark Stadium when it's turned into a snow globe.

“Yeah, with the Colts in 2017," the Browns quarterback said Wednesday. "I don’t want to talk about the results of the game.”

That's understandable in retrospect. Brissett and Indianapolis went to Buffalo on Dec. 10, 2017, and suffered a 13-7 overtime loss to the Bills.

Brissett, battling the elements and the Bills defense, was 11-of-22 passing for 69 yards. He did throw the lone Colts' touchdown of the game, a 3-yard pass to Jack Doyle that tied the score 7-7 with 1:16 remaining in regulation.

”I’ve played up there when it was snow, so we’ll see,” Brissett said.

There's snow, then there's what is being forecast for Western New York over the next few days. The National Weather Service office in Buffalo has issued a Lake Effect Snow Warning for Orchard Park, N.Y., the location of the Bills' home stadium.

The warning is calling for between 1 to 3 feet of snow to fall on the area from starting Wednesday evening through 1 a.m. Saturday. Even that forecast changed in a little more than 24 hours, when the warning had originally stretched through Sunday evening.

Cleveland area weather forecast:Snowstorm brings heavy snowfall along Lake Erie, Greater Akron spared so far

The original forecast, even with the expected snowfall to cease by the 1 p.m. Sunday kickoff, threw questions about the Browns' travel plans in advance of the game. Coach Kevin Stefanski acknowledged Wednesday afternoon the logistics were a concern, although it wasn't such that he had to be pulled into the discussions.

“I am sure some people are having some conversations about that," Stefanski said. "I am not in that circle right now. They will fill me in on a need-to-know [basis]. For us, we just have to focus on our preparation. If something changes, we will tell the players and we will tell you guys.”

The NFL, through a spokesman, has indicated the league is monitoring the situation. A change in game dates seems highly unlikely, considering the Bills play at Detroit on Thanksgiving, meaning they're already facing a short week after this game.

Detroit's Ford Field was also thrown out, mostly on social media and sports-talk radio, as a potential site change for the game. That, also seems highly unlikely.

Stefanski was part of one game that changed sites when the Metrodome's 2010 collapse forced the Minnesota Vikings to move a game against the New York Giants to Detroit. That same year, the Vikings had a game against Philadelphia shifted from Sunday night to Tuesday night.

"I think for coaches and players, in any of those moments, you just deal with what is in front of you," Stefanski said. "Coaches and players, all we have to do is say, ‘Hey, go to this bus. Get on this plane. Go to this meeting.’ We don’t have to do all of the work that goes into it from the logistics standpoint. We are creatures of habit. We are creatures of listening to whoever tells us to go in whichever direction they want us to go in. You want to play the game on this day or that day? That is fine."

That attitude also extends to the weather. This past Sunday, the Browns played in mid-80s heat with 51% humidity when they played at Miami.

Now, a week later, they'll play in sub-freezing temperatures with potentially feet of snow having fallen in the area. Quite the change in climates in an extremely short time frame.

"I think we got a lot of practice here in Cleveland with different conditions and the weather," cornerback Denzel Ward said. "So whatever the conditions are, whether it's snowing or wind blowing hard, I think we'll be ready. Some guys wear different things or whatever so whatever you feel comfortable with but I think we'll be good."

Ward was just 10 when the Browns and Bills famously played in the midst of a snowstorm in Cleveland. The Browns won the game 8-0 behind two Phil Dawson field goals and a safety.

"It is interesting because you go into each one of these games and weather is a factor," Stefanski said. "Our stadium is on the lake. Buffalo, it is lake effect snow that we are talking about. It is one more element that you have to deal with. I know this — they played in a very windy game versus New England, and they threw it 30-plus times. It is hard, even with the conditions, to say that the game is going to go one specific [way]."

For a lot of the Browns players, Sunday could be the first time they've ever played in a true snow game. That's added a layer of excitement to a game against one of the AFC's top teams.

"I never had a snow game," running back Nick Chubb, a Georgia native, said, "even though I've been in Cleveland for five years. There's a little bit of excitement in there."

Brissett is one who's played in a snow game before. He's also played in multiple cold-weather markets before, having spent the first five years of his career in either New England or Indianapolis.

Yet, even Brissett doesn't know exactly how to prepare for such conditions.

“I’m from Florida, so no," Brissett said. "I wouldn’t know. I’m the wrong person to ask. I really won’t think about it.”

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Browns not sweating snowstorm in forecast for Buffalo