Harbaugh won't let Tampa heat distract his team

With temperatures expected to reach nearly 90 degrees prior to kickoff, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh has had to weight the option of putting his team in the indoor practice facility and turning the heat up. While it doesn't sound like a pleasant experience, it was discussed with Harbaugh and his leadership council to best prepare them for the game.

Shockingly, it wasn't the heat the players were worried about, it was the practice turf.

"We talked to the leaders, leadership council, and they wanted to be on the grass. They felt better about being on the grass, because the turf takes it out of their legs a little bit. They felt like that was more important." Harbaugh said.

"So, you can't get everything you want a lot of times. If we had an indoor grass facility, we'd have the best of both worlds, but we don't have that right now."

Could an upgrade be coming to the Ravens practice facility? Harbaugh seemed to not be too excited for it.

"Yes, mention that to Steve. Put a little clear roof over it," he said jokingly.

The heat is always going to be a concern, but Harbaugh didn't appear too worried about it. He reflected back to Week 5 last year when the Ravens took a trip to Miami and won 26-23. Harbaugh gave his team's conditioning praise as to why they were partially able to hold on to the victory.

"Yes, the heat is a concern because we're not really acclimated to it," he said. We've had some hot weeks here not too many weeks ago. It's not like we're in November, December."

"I know we're in great shape as a football team. We went down to Miami last year, and it was hot as it could possibly be and we had similar weather up here, and our guys handled it really well," Harbaugh said. "As a matter of fact, we were stronger at the end than they were. So, we believe in our conditioning. We believe in our strength and our toughness. I believe we'll be in a good shape."

According to Accuweather.com, kickoff temperatures are expected to be 86 degrees with a RealFeel of 96. Given all the pads and field temperature, it's not going to be a pleasant day for the Ravens but I'm personally a little more worried about Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans more than a little extra sweat.

For more Ravens news and information, follow me on Twitter @RavenManiac.