Carolina Panthers GM says team at disadvantage playing Thursday opener

Carolina Panthers general manager David Gettleman is not a fan of his team having to open the season on Thursday night against the Denver Broncos.

In just over four months, it will be deja vu all over again for fans of the NFL when the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos meet to open the 2016 season, just over seven months after Denver brought home their third Super Bowl title with a 24-10 win over Carolina.

The two teams will meet in the Thursday night date before the first weekend of the season, a tradition of the defending champion opening the season. Carolina Panthers general manager David Gettleman, during an interview with Pro Football Talk, isn’t upset about playing Denver so early (they were scheduled to play in 2016 regardless of their Super Bowl meeting), but about opening on Thursday against anyone:

"“To me, playing in the opening game, on that Thursday night, is a little bit of a competitive disadvantage to those teams, compared to the other 30, because of the way the 53 cut is set up. You’ve got to have a practice and you don’t have your practice squad players,” Gettleman said. “It’s kind of a competitive disadvantage. We’ve got to play them at some point and I’m sure that when the ball’s teed up we’ll both be ready to go.”"

Gettleman and the Panthers aren’t likely to get sympathy from the 30 other teams who will be watching his team open against the Broncos. Since every team is required to play at least one Thursday night game each year, Carolina and Denver are the only two teams who will not have to play their Thursday night game on a short week.

Both teams will have extra days to prepare for their Week Two matchups, as the Panthers will host the San Francisco 49ers while the Broncos will host the Indianapolis Colts.

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