Matthew Slater isn't a fan of Thursday night games
Per Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com:
"I can’t sit here as the player rep of this team and say that I’m a huge fan of it," Slater said of Thursday night games. "Obviously it puts our players in a bind. But I understand why it’s being done. I understand that we want to make this game available to our fans as often as possible. But you talk about player safety and health, and it’s hard for us to understand how that is catering toward our players’ safety and health.
"Obviously there are some great things that come along with the Thursday night game. But at the same time, there are some challenges for the guys that are out there playing the game. I don’t think that’s any mystery. You’re not hearing any new information. It is what it is.”
In a lot of cases, people would probably look at these comments and just tell Slater to suck it up and play. And while some still might regardless, Slater has a great point. Obviously, football is one of the more violent sports out there, and players only have a couple of days to get rested up for a Thursday night game if they play on Sunday.
The benefit, however, is that they get a few extra days off. It's essentially a mini bye week. It's great for the fans because it adds an extra day of the week where a football game is played.
Slater also said many of his teammates feel the same way he does regarding Thursday night games:
"It's something that's been voiced by several guys. I understand the situation that the league is in, and I understand why it's good for our league to play these Thursday games. But I also understand there are two sides of it, and there are some disadvantages to a quick turnaround," he said. "But I don't want to continue to sit here and dwell on that. We're playing Thursday, we have to be ready to go, and we're always excited when we have a chance to take the field."
The Patriots take on the Miami Dolphins tomorrow night at Gillette Stadium.
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