GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A few snow flurries fell in Green Bay on Thursday, giving Packers players a taste of the conditions they’re preparing to handle in the final month of the season.

The Packers think winter weather gives them an edge over visiting players who aren’t as used to it, and hope to enhance that advantage with this year’s new heated outdoor practice field that will allow them to practice outside more often.

But preparing for cold and snow doesn’t necessarily mean Packers coach Mike McCarthy will dramatically change his play-calling tendencies going into Monday night’s home game against Baltimore. According to STATS LLC, the Packers have passed 59 percent of the time since McCarthy took over in 2006 – and that percentage fell only slightly, to 56.7 percent, in games played in temperatures under 40 degrees.

McCarthy says football certainly gets more physical in December, but that doesn’t automatically mean an emphasis on the running game.

“Everybody wants to talk about the run game,” McCarthy said. “Yeah, that’s a pretty good indicator. But we’re going to do whatever it takes from a football standpoint to win games in December, and I am very confident in our style of play and how we utilize our players.”

The Packers are 7-4 and in good shape for an NFC wild card berth in large part because of their successful passing game, and players don’t expect falling temperatures or a few snowflakes to shake things up dramatically.

“I don’t think Mike is going to change anything, either,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We feel confident throwing the ball. We did last year, we threw the ball pretty effectively in the cold, even in the minus-15 down in Chicago. I’ve got big hands, I can grip that ball, and let ‘er rip. So I think we’re going to keep to that strategy hopefully.”

The Packers have two home games left, Monday night’s game against the Ravens and a Dec. 27 game against Seattle. They also could face challenging weather in two of their three remaining road games, Dec. 13 at Chicago and Dec. 20 at Pittsburgh.

Wide receiver Greg Jennings says abandoning the pass in December would be playing into an opposing defense’s hands.

“The defense is thinking the same thing – oh, they’re going to try to run the ball on us,” Jennings said.

But while Jennings hopes the passing game remains productive in December, he knows he’ll have to make a few tweaks to his techniques to make it happen.

“It changes how you have to run the routes,” Jennings said. “You have to have body control. That body lean, you can’t be on your heel. In perfect weather, you can run your routes without thinking about keeping your chin over your knees and things like that. When that ground gets harder, everything gets slick and if you’re falling back a little bit, you’re going to end up slipping. That’s when the defenses have the advantage.”

Rodgers knows he won’t be able to run quite as well on a slick field – but neither will the guys chasing him.

“I’ve always felt a wet field, the advantage always goes to the offensive player because they know where they’re going,” Rodgers said. “That’s more on like a receiver running a route on a DB. But at the same time I feel like me moving in the pocket, I think I still have an advantage over guys coming to get me because I’m kind of shifty and I have decent speed.”

The Packers will be able to practice outside more often this season, thanks to a new practice field that features a heating system underneath. The team has been hesitant to practice on an unheated field in years past because of concerns about injuries.

The Packers went outside Thursday with temperatures in the 20s.

“I don’t really consider that cold,” McCarthy said. “I thought today was a beautiful day to play football, and from my understanding this will be very similar to what we play in Monday night. … They live in it, we practice in it, so it should be a benefit to us.”

But even some Packers players take a while to warm up to the idea of playing in the cold, including native Californian Rodgers.

“People ask me that all the time back in California,” Rodgers said. “I don’t think you ever really get used to it, I think you just get better at dealing with it. You’ve got to live in it and walk from the stadium to your car and your car to the restaurant, or be out there shoveling your driveway with no gloves on – that’s what I did last year, at least. It’s not a lot of fun, but you just get better dealing with it.”

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