Ron Rivera's whistle froze.

Hash marks had to be plowed.

Derek Anderson looked like an extra in "The Revenant."

Yeah, Friday wasn't a typical practice day for the Carolina Panthers.

"It's every football player's dream to play in the snow," Rivera said.

Hmmm, let's test out that theory with Trai Turner.

"That was never my dream," the New Orleans native said after emerging from a hot shower. "If that was on my bucket list, you can check it off now."

But according to Rivera, despite the slush and chill, it wasn't a wasted practice. Instead, it may give the Panthers a slight advantage heading into what will be a crisp NFC Championship game with the Cardinals.

"There's going to be elements on Sunday night," Rivera said. "When you've got this front that's coming through – I know it's going to be the tail end of it, but I think it'll help us.

"Mario Addison said it best: 'The elements may change, but we don't.' We don't change who we are."

That sure is a bright outlook for a guy from Birmingham, Ala.

"I love it when it snows and it ain't negative 30 or something like that," Addison said. "But if it's in like the 20s or something, I can deal with it."

So that playoff game in Minneapolis a couple weeks ago didn't look fun?

"Oooh, that's hard on a man."

But not a Michigan man.

"I woke up this morning and put it on my Snapchat, like, 'I've been missing this stuff,'" rookie Devin Funchess said, before making it obvious this was the first time he's seen it snow in Charlotte.

"People don't know how to drive down here in it, though."

The guys who played at Ohio State didn't seem to be affected, either. Well, a couple of them didn't.

Andrew Norwell and Kurt Coleman wore short sleeves. Fellow Buckeye Philly Brown ... not so much.

"I wear sleeves in 110-degree weather, so I'm not going to change just cause it's snowing outside," he said. "And I had to dive in the snow a few times, so I had to wear sleeves to kind of seem tough, at least."

If anyone was used to the conditions, it had to be David Foucault. A dusty of snow and a bit of ice is nothing for a guy from Montreal.

"It felt like the end of November for me," he said with a laugh.

And since they were back inside, that's what many we're doing Friday afternoon. With about 48 hours to go before biggest game of most of their lives, the Panthers' personality remained the same.

Rivera wasn't any different, either. He's not good at telling lies, so when asked if he liked playing in the snow when he was in Chicago, coach didn't even pretend to act tough.

"I hated it, it was cold. Shoot, let's be honest."