Players fine with Thursday Night Football if they get rest
Good teams are built upon compromise. But if there’s less time between games in a football schedule, isn’t it a bit counterintuitive to practice less? Not according to the NFL Players Association. They think that as the league and the players become more comfortable, coaches will adjust the player’s work load to accommodate the tighter schedule.
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“Frankly, we don’t have a comprehensive data set yet,” NFLPA spokesman George Atallah told the Hollywood Reporter. “But here’s anecdotally what we’ve heard from our members: Players who have good coaches don’t mind the Thursday night games because the coaches give them enough time to rest from the Sunday games. And players who have bad coaches don’t like Thursday night games because they are not able to recover physically.”
It sounds like a give and take of lighter practices and better physical care. In other words, coaches must to listen to the needs of their players and adjust their schedule accordingly. This doesn’t necessarily mean that Thursday Night Football makes a lot of sense. I love having football break up the week on Monday and Thursday. It does seem like a bit much for players, however. But if the NFLPA has spoken, then so too have the players — for now.
TNF thus far has been the Euro-Leauge expansion of cable. It’s a failed enterprise. CBS has it in their capable hands, and if the ratings do well then it could become a mainstay in the NFL fan’s diet. At which point, it will be a requirement for the players.