In an ideal world – and we can all agree we’re not living in an ideal world! – there would be 60,000-plus screaming Patriots fans packed into Gillette Stadium this Sunday night for primetime battle with Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
Alas, though, there have not been and will not be any fans at games in Foxborough this season, one of the many alterations to the NFL world due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. No raucous cheers. No biting jeers.
But according to longtime Patriots running backs coach Ivan Fears, who always seems to have a way to put things in perspective, there is one benefit to the absence of fans at games.
“I actually am kind of happy about that because I get to yell at my guys and they actually hear me. So it's a little fun,” Fears said with a trademark chuckle during his Friday video call with local reporters.
Overall, Fears downplayed the effects of a lack of fans, despite admitting it’s a little weird taking to a field surrounded essentially by silence. When the game kicks off, though, those feelings dissipate.
“It is really different when you really stand out there and watch it and the stadium's totally empty, except for a few photographers and things like that. That's strange,” Fears said. “They've got the fake noise going on and that's fine. But once the game starts, it's all over, you're totally focused in on the game. Pre-game, you go out there, nobody's is there, yelling at you, calling your name and stuff like that. That's really something else. That's different. But boy, when it's time to kick off, you don't give a shit what's going on out there. All you care about is what's going on, on the field. Once the game starts, you're playing the game, it's a total different mindset. But before, when you walk out there and it’s just air quiet, that's different. That's totally different.”
And while crowds have historically added to the momentum of teams that are rolling or played a role injecting life into a team in need, Fears says these days players and coaches have to lean on themselves for such energy.
“We got to get it from each other. I mean, that's what it comes down to. Your cheerleaders are us, the rest of the teammates,” Fears said. “And they can feel it, man. I'm telling you, when that game's going on, you got a knot in your stomach. I mean, you're so anxious. You feel it. You feel it and probably always thought that was something, that was great, that was something that helped kick start some stuff. But when it's all said and done, you're playing for each other. Once the game is going, it's you and the team, it's the guys on the sideline. Everybody. You feel it from us and that's where you get your extra energy from.”
