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I have to side with the players on this topic.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... s/1765615/
11:04PM EST December 12. 2012 - PHILADELPHIA – Trent Cole was putting on his gloves, heading to the weight room for a lift that was much more out of necessity than desire.
This was Tuesday, a little less than 48 hours after the final snap of the Philadelphia Eagles' last-minute victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – and a little more than two days before the Eagles' Thursday night matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. There wasn't a part of Cole's body that was fully recovered from the pounding it took on Sunday.
"If you look at the games we've been playing – Monday to Sunday and then to Thursday – just think about how I'm feeling," the Eagles defensive end told USA TODAY Sports, referring to the three games in 11 days on Philadelphia's schedule. "The energy in the body, it's not full. It's all really up here (in the brain). You're playing a hundred percent mentally. The mind takes over the body. That's how you have to do it.
"You can't worry about it. This is the game we play and you have to go out and perform."
Thursday football has long been a part of the NFL's schedule, from the traditional Thanksgiving games to the sporadic TNT and ESPN broadcasts of the 1990s, to the NFL Network's late-season games beginning in 2006.
This year the league expanded the Thursday slate to include every team, beginning with the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Chicago Bears on Sept. 13 and concluding this week with an Eagles-Bengals game that's become a little more intriguing than it seemed a few weeks ago.
The Thursday night results have been less than stellar – low ratings, sloppy football, one-sided games, struggling road teams and rosters depleted by injuries on short weeks – despite efforts by the league to schedule more geographically friendly meetings and divisional matchups.
But like it or not – and plenty of stressed-out, under-rested coaches are in the "not" category – Thursday games aren't going anywhere.
"If they are really concerned about the violence and injuries and players getting hurt, answer this question for me, and I'm going to leave y'all with this: Why is there Thursday night football?" Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed said. "We played three games in (12) days. Why is there Thursday night football?"
Asked on Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings for his view, Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "We don't have any information that playing on Thursdays decreases the safety of our players. I think you start with the facts, and the facts are that's not a risk to our players."
Expand the brand
Players, even some who take issue with playing on a short week, do appreciate the chance to play on a national stage. Small-market teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars are among eight NFL teams that wouldn't play before a national audience this season if not for the new Thursday format.
The questions that arise are about health concerns as well as the quality of football.
The NFL says it monitors injury data, including for Thursday night games, and in a statement said, "We have looked at the data from past seasons' injury data and there was nothing noted that suggested an increased rate of injuries. There is no data to this point showing an increased rate of injury in Thursday games."
The NFL Players Association has yet to take a stance on the matter. NFLPA assistant executive vice president for external affairs George Atallah says the union also is compiling data to understand whether more players get hurt while playing when their bodies are less than fully recovered.
The league emphasizes there is competitive equity because no team had its bye the week before a Thursday game this year. But one idea being mentioned to address rest issues is whether the league should give each team two bye weeks per season, with one of them coming the week before a Thursday night game.
The one thing that can't be disputed is there are players who sit out these Thursday games who believe they would have been able to play if the game were three days later on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings missed the Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley sat out his team's loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 6 and the Denver Broncos were without linebacker Wesley Woodyard and guard Chris Kuper last week.
It's unclear if any or all of those players would've been ready to play if they'd had three more days of rest – Woodley and Jennings returned the following week and the two Broncos have practiced this week – but many inactive players have claimed they would've suited up with a normal week of recovery.
"It really tests you," Woodyard said of the short turnaround, "and if you're injured or banged up or if you have an injured team, it's really hard getting people ready."
It always has been a challenge for players injured on a Sunday to make it back for a game the following Thursday, but the league's more cautious guidelines for treating head injuries makes even a slight concussion an almost-guaranteed trip to the inactive list. Eagles tight end Brent Celek, who was concussed on Sunday, was ruled out early this week.
New York Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon missed the Week 3 game against the Carolina Panthers after getting a concussion the previous Sunday. Hixon thinks he would've been ready to play by the weekend. Asked how much sitting out angered him, Hixon said, "A lot. That's a game missed."
"That was the first time going through the new protocol," Hixon added. "The whole deal was a little more extensive than I thought, having to see so many people and pass these tests. Then, you have to come back jogging.
"There's just so much that there's no way you can get everything cleared by Thursday."
The push to prepare
The coaches feel the same about their rushed game plans.
"The players are kind of like, 'Yeah, it's a little bit tough, we have to cram a bunch in quickly but the beauty is once you get through the game, especially if you win it, you get a mini-bye week,'" said Mike Mayock, the color commentator for the NFL Network's Thursday broadcasts. "The coaches are the opposite: 'Man, this is tough. We have to cram in as much as we can.' A lot of the coaches come from a Sunday game and go right back to the facility to start working."
The most relieved coaches are the ones who face a divisional rival on Thursday night, Mayock says, because their familiarity with the opponent helps reduce preparation time.
Of the 16 Thursday games this season (including all three Thanksgiving games), 11 have been divisional matchups. There have been only two non-conference games, in part because the Detroit Lions had to host an AFC opponent on Thanksgiving for CBS to broadcast the game.
The non-divisional games have at least been more geographically reasonable. Last December, the Eagles flew to Seattle to face the Seahawks on a Thursday night and got hammered 31-14. A few Eagles players were still complaining about that one this week.
"That cuts into your preparation," guard Evan Mathis said, "and could be a problem."
Even teams making short trips have to deal with logistical issues. Road teams are 4-8 in the NFL Network's games, though the visitors' sweep on Thanksgiving makes the overall record a more palatable 7-8.
It's not ideal for the home team, either.
"That next day after the game before that, we're having our walk-through, it's 6 o'clock, dark out, freezing cold and a lot of guys can barely move or get into a stance," New York Jets guard Matt Slauson said. "Everything hurts."
Teams usually get one practice per week that resembles a regular session. Some of the Jets players wondered after they got crushed by the Patriots 49-19 on Thanksgiving night – a game that provided the image of Mark Sanchez sliding into guard Brandon Moore for the now-infamous "butt fumble" – if they'd been affected by a short week.
"Yeah, you do think about that," defensive lineman Mike DeVito said. "Without a doubt."
Sloppier games?
There's always a gray area when measuring how a short week might impact games, though there are numbers to suggest the overall quality of play is affected:
Turnovers – There have been 3.9 turnovers per Thursday game vs. a turnover rate of 3.1 on all other days.
Winning margin – The average margin of victory on Thursdays is 13 points, with it being 11.2 on other days.
Down and out – Perhaps the most telling stat is the inability of teams to battle back after falling behind. In the 193 non-Thursday games, there have been 84 lead changes in the second half. That's a rate of 43.5 percent. In the 15 Thursday games, there have been only three second-half lead changes – 20 percent.
"It does always seem lopsided," Woodyard says.
Lopsided in favor of the coaches known for having their players ready. Among the teams that have won Thursday games are those led by veteran coaches who have been lauded for their ability to handle logistics and preparation: Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, John Harbaugh, John Fox, Mike Smith and even relative NFL newbies Jim Harbaugh and Greg Schiano, both sticklers for detail and solid game planners.
"Whoever overcomes those hurdles is the one who's going to win," Mathis said while expressing confidence Andy Reid will have the Eagles ready for the Bengals. "Preparation is very important for such a short week and those who prepare the best overcome the distractions of playing on a short week."
Lewis: 'It's horrible'
Distractions such as what day it is in the football world.
For the Bengals this week, Monday had a typical Wednesday schedule, Tuesday was a Friday and Wednesday was Saturday – all of it designed to make the players feel as if they were building up to a Sunday, albeit with a slower pace at practice.
Coach Marvin Lewis said the Bengals would rely heavily upon the notes they took on the Eagles in the offseason and during their bye week, when they got a jump on preparations for this week's game as best they could.
But there isn't much to be done about the aches the players will have to ignore.
"Oh, it's horrible," Lewis said, though he was confident his young team would be able to handle it. "But it is what it is, and it's an important game. So, be ready."
He'll get no argument from Cole, even if this game means much less to the 4-9 Eagles, who won't be headed to the playoffs.
"I don't know what it is, but it's always the day before when it seems like everything goes away. It all disappears," Cole said of the soreness. "It's all mind. That's how you've gotta do it."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nf ... s/1765615/
11:04PM EST December 12. 2012 - PHILADELPHIA – Trent Cole was putting on his gloves, heading to the weight room for a lift that was much more out of necessity than desire.
This was Tuesday, a little less than 48 hours after the final snap of the Philadelphia Eagles' last-minute victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – and a little more than two days before the Eagles' Thursday night matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. There wasn't a part of Cole's body that was fully recovered from the pounding it took on Sunday.
"If you look at the games we've been playing – Monday to Sunday and then to Thursday – just think about how I'm feeling," the Eagles defensive end told USA TODAY Sports, referring to the three games in 11 days on Philadelphia's schedule. "The energy in the body, it's not full. It's all really up here (in the brain). You're playing a hundred percent mentally. The mind takes over the body. That's how you have to do it.
"You can't worry about it. This is the game we play and you have to go out and perform."
Thursday football has long been a part of the NFL's schedule, from the traditional Thanksgiving games to the sporadic TNT and ESPN broadcasts of the 1990s, to the NFL Network's late-season games beginning in 2006.
This year the league expanded the Thursday slate to include every team, beginning with the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Chicago Bears on Sept. 13 and concluding this week with an Eagles-Bengals game that's become a little more intriguing than it seemed a few weeks ago.
The Thursday night results have been less than stellar – low ratings, sloppy football, one-sided games, struggling road teams and rosters depleted by injuries on short weeks – despite efforts by the league to schedule more geographically friendly meetings and divisional matchups.
But like it or not – and plenty of stressed-out, under-rested coaches are in the "not" category – Thursday games aren't going anywhere.
"If they are really concerned about the violence and injuries and players getting hurt, answer this question for me, and I'm going to leave y'all with this: Why is there Thursday night football?" Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed said. "We played three games in (12) days. Why is there Thursday night football?"
Asked on Wednesday at the NFL owners meetings for his view, Commissioner Roger Goodell said, "We don't have any information that playing on Thursdays decreases the safety of our players. I think you start with the facts, and the facts are that's not a risk to our players."
Expand the brand
Players, even some who take issue with playing on a short week, do appreciate the chance to play on a national stage. Small-market teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars are among eight NFL teams that wouldn't play before a national audience this season if not for the new Thursday format.
The questions that arise are about health concerns as well as the quality of football.
The NFL says it monitors injury data, including for Thursday night games, and in a statement said, "We have looked at the data from past seasons' injury data and there was nothing noted that suggested an increased rate of injuries. There is no data to this point showing an increased rate of injury in Thursday games."
The NFL Players Association has yet to take a stance on the matter. NFLPA assistant executive vice president for external affairs George Atallah says the union also is compiling data to understand whether more players get hurt while playing when their bodies are less than fully recovered.
The league emphasizes there is competitive equity because no team had its bye the week before a Thursday game this year. But one idea being mentioned to address rest issues is whether the league should give each team two bye weeks per season, with one of them coming the week before a Thursday night game.
The one thing that can't be disputed is there are players who sit out these Thursday games who believe they would have been able to play if the game were three days later on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings missed the Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley sat out his team's loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 6 and the Denver Broncos were without linebacker Wesley Woodyard and guard Chris Kuper last week.
It's unclear if any or all of those players would've been ready to play if they'd had three more days of rest – Woodley and Jennings returned the following week and the two Broncos have practiced this week – but many inactive players have claimed they would've suited up with a normal week of recovery.
"It really tests you," Woodyard said of the short turnaround, "and if you're injured or banged up or if you have an injured team, it's really hard getting people ready."
It always has been a challenge for players injured on a Sunday to make it back for a game the following Thursday, but the league's more cautious guidelines for treating head injuries makes even a slight concussion an almost-guaranteed trip to the inactive list. Eagles tight end Brent Celek, who was concussed on Sunday, was ruled out early this week.
New York Giants wide receiver Domenik Hixon missed the Week 3 game against the Carolina Panthers after getting a concussion the previous Sunday. Hixon thinks he would've been ready to play by the weekend. Asked how much sitting out angered him, Hixon said, "A lot. That's a game missed."
"That was the first time going through the new protocol," Hixon added. "The whole deal was a little more extensive than I thought, having to see so many people and pass these tests. Then, you have to come back jogging.
"There's just so much that there's no way you can get everything cleared by Thursday."
The push to prepare
The coaches feel the same about their rushed game plans.
"The players are kind of like, 'Yeah, it's a little bit tough, we have to cram a bunch in quickly but the beauty is once you get through the game, especially if you win it, you get a mini-bye week,'" said Mike Mayock, the color commentator for the NFL Network's Thursday broadcasts. "The coaches are the opposite: 'Man, this is tough. We have to cram in as much as we can.' A lot of the coaches come from a Sunday game and go right back to the facility to start working."
The most relieved coaches are the ones who face a divisional rival on Thursday night, Mayock says, because their familiarity with the opponent helps reduce preparation time.
Of the 16 Thursday games this season (including all three Thanksgiving games), 11 have been divisional matchups. There have been only two non-conference games, in part because the Detroit Lions had to host an AFC opponent on Thanksgiving for CBS to broadcast the game.
The non-divisional games have at least been more geographically reasonable. Last December, the Eagles flew to Seattle to face the Seahawks on a Thursday night and got hammered 31-14. A few Eagles players were still complaining about that one this week.
"That cuts into your preparation," guard Evan Mathis said, "and could be a problem."
Even teams making short trips have to deal with logistical issues. Road teams are 4-8 in the NFL Network's games, though the visitors' sweep on Thanksgiving makes the overall record a more palatable 7-8.
It's not ideal for the home team, either.
"That next day after the game before that, we're having our walk-through, it's 6 o'clock, dark out, freezing cold and a lot of guys can barely move or get into a stance," New York Jets guard Matt Slauson said. "Everything hurts."
Teams usually get one practice per week that resembles a regular session. Some of the Jets players wondered after they got crushed by the Patriots 49-19 on Thanksgiving night – a game that provided the image of Mark Sanchez sliding into guard Brandon Moore for the now-infamous "butt fumble" – if they'd been affected by a short week.
"Yeah, you do think about that," defensive lineman Mike DeVito said. "Without a doubt."
Sloppier games?
There's always a gray area when measuring how a short week might impact games, though there are numbers to suggest the overall quality of play is affected:
Turnovers – There have been 3.9 turnovers per Thursday game vs. a turnover rate of 3.1 on all other days.
Winning margin – The average margin of victory on Thursdays is 13 points, with it being 11.2 on other days.
Down and out – Perhaps the most telling stat is the inability of teams to battle back after falling behind. In the 193 non-Thursday games, there have been 84 lead changes in the second half. That's a rate of 43.5 percent. In the 15 Thursday games, there have been only three second-half lead changes – 20 percent.
"It does always seem lopsided," Woodyard says.
Lopsided in favor of the coaches known for having their players ready. Among the teams that have won Thursday games are those led by veteran coaches who have been lauded for their ability to handle logistics and preparation: Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Jeff Fisher, Mike Shanahan, John Harbaugh, John Fox, Mike Smith and even relative NFL newbies Jim Harbaugh and Greg Schiano, both sticklers for detail and solid game planners.
"Whoever overcomes those hurdles is the one who's going to win," Mathis said while expressing confidence Andy Reid will have the Eagles ready for the Bengals. "Preparation is very important for such a short week and those who prepare the best overcome the distractions of playing on a short week."
Lewis: 'It's horrible'
Distractions such as what day it is in the football world.
For the Bengals this week, Monday had a typical Wednesday schedule, Tuesday was a Friday and Wednesday was Saturday – all of it designed to make the players feel as if they were building up to a Sunday, albeit with a slower pace at practice.
Coach Marvin Lewis said the Bengals would rely heavily upon the notes they took on the Eagles in the offseason and during their bye week, when they got a jump on preparations for this week's game as best they could.
But there isn't much to be done about the aches the players will have to ignore.
"Oh, it's horrible," Lewis said, though he was confident his young team would be able to handle it. "But it is what it is, and it's an important game. So, be ready."
He'll get no argument from Cole, even if this game means much less to the 4-9 Eagles, who won't be headed to the playoffs.
"I don't know what it is, but it's always the day before when it seems like everything goes away. It all disappears," Cole said of the soreness. "It's all mind. That's how you've gotta do it."
