You can take Matt Barkley out of Newport Beach, but you can't take Newport Beach out of Matt Barkley.
The Bears quarterback is digging deep into his Southern California roots for Sunday's gnarly conditions in Chicago: He's wearing a wetsuit underneath his jersey to combat the near-zero temperatures.
Barkley told NFL Network's Stacey Dales that he's following in the footsteps of Tom Brady by wearing the underwater uniform. Dales said on NFL GameDay Morning that he'll be wearing the upper part of a two-piece wetsuit, which is what triathletes wear to keep their core warm when partaking in frigid conditions.
Dales added that the wetsuit "promotes flexibility throwing the football," which could end up being very handy given Barkley's relative lack of experience playing football in cold weather.
Barkley has filled in admirably for an injured Jay Cutler, especially over the last two games -- he's completing 62 percent of his passes, is averaging 8.1 yards per throw and has yet to toss an interception.
