What the Patriots are saying about preparing for Denver’s high altitude

New England Patriots

Mike Vrabel played road games there. Christian Elliss finished his high school career in Colorado. Here’s what they had to say.

These Patriots call themselves road warriors.

They posted a perfect 8-0 road record during the regular-season with wins at Miami, Buffalo, New Orleans, Tennessee, Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and New York.

Now, after a pair of home playoff wins at Gillette Stadium, they’re hitting the road again for the AFC Championship game in Denver on Sunday.

The Broncos have won 15 of their last 18 home games. Denver has historically been a tough place to play for the Patriots in the playoffs — even Tom Brady never won a road playoff game there.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, who experienced road games at Denver as a player, joked that there isn’t too much you can do differently to prepare for the high altitude “other than going out there last Thursday.”

“I think just physiologically you have to be at altitude for longer than a day or two or three,” Vrabel said. “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.”

Rookie safety Craig Woodson echoed Vrabel’s sentiments, saying that there isn’t much to change about the team’s preparation.

“Shoot, our record says it. We’re 8-0 on the road, so I don’t think there’s anything that we really need to change up,” Woodson said. “I mean, we’ve had success on the road. We’re going to continue to have success. So, I don’t think we need to change anything. We just prepare like we usually do, and we’ll be ready to go.”

Patriots Linebacker Christian Elliss is the son of former Broncos defensive tackle Luther Elliss. He spent his last two years of high school at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado which is less than an hour away from Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

“I’m used to it,” Ellis said. “I played there with Bill [Belichick] when he signed me over here. It was definitely a change and you’ve got to mentally prepare for it, but it’s not anything that you have to shy away from.

“It’s just like playing when you got to lower elevation in Miami and it’s 90 degrees and extremely humid. It’s just a different type of field and a different type of environment. You’ve just got to prepare for it mentally and we’ll be fine.”

Vrabel was asked if he had any tricks up his sleeve from his playing days as the team prepares for the trip to Mile High.

“No tricks,” Vrabel said. “Just play well, try to be prepared and the better condition that you are, the less of an impact that that’s going to make. There’s no tricks.”

The Patriots coach said he’s trying to keep it all in perspective as this team plays for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

 “I want them to enjoy everything about this, but we have to also embrace the preparation and everything that’s required to get us to this point,” Vrabel said. “And then being able to perform and being able to go on the road in a hostile environment.”

“As far as messaging, I have some time until Wednesday to land the plane on that, but I’m sure it’ll be pretty consistent with what we’ve done up until then.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.