Giants owner John Mara isn’t the only member of the NFL community voicing his displeasure over the new “Thursday Night Football” rules.
On Tuesday, the same day the league announced that teams can be scheduled for two Thursday night games in one season, Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes summed up his feelings on the matter in one tweet.
In response to a report detailing the change, this year’s Super Bowl MVP posted the facepalm emoji, which is typically used to convey frustration.
The swift turnaround from Sunday to Thursday has long been an issue, as recovery time between games is essentially cut in half.
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III stressed that point in a message Tuesday, when he spoke at length about the “ridiculous” change.
“The NFL is now allowing teams to have TWO Thursday Night Football games per year. A league that continuously says it is all about improving player safety continues to put the health of its players at risk. Playing 1 game with only 3 days rest isn’t smart. Playing 2 is RIDICULOUS,” he wrote.
NFL linebacker Devon Kennard also chastised the move on social media.
“Two TNF games is AWFUL for the players!” he posted.
Speaking from the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix, Mara said the move “should have been vetted” by both the Health and Safety committee and the Competition Committee before it was pushed through.
“If you’re gonna add a second one, and it’s gonna be late in the season, when players’ bodies are a little more beaten up and battered than they were maybe earlier in the season, I think we need to look at that,” said Mara, who noted injury data shows one Thursday contest in a season does not increase the chances of player injuries.
“I think this should have been vetted with the Health and Safety committee, it should have been vetted with the Competition Committee and it wasn’t. They just tried to push it through.”
Mara also vehemently opposed the option to flex Sunday games to Thursday.
