New England Patriots star special teamer Matthew Slater expressed his displeasure with having to play a game on Thursday night right after already having played Sunday.
Slater criticized the NFL on Tuesday, saying Thursday games “don’t fit under the umbrella of player safety.”
“You could be 22 years old — it’s [still] tough. Player safety, player health? This doesn’t fit into that as far as I’m concerned,” Slater told reporters, according to NBC Sports Boston.
Slater added: “I know we’ve had a lot of discussions about it as a union. I know it’s a good product as far as the consumers are concerned, and the fans enjoy these Thursday night products. But I think when you talk about the rigors of playing in an NFL game, and then what it takes to recover and be able to do it again the following week, to do a Sunday-to-Thursday turnaround is tough. It doesn’t fit under the umbrella of player safety as far as I’m concerned. But you guys know that — I’ve said that every year.”
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Slater, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, said however that having the Thursday night game at Gillette Stadium would be a bit easier — it allows him to get an extra bit of rest before the game.
New England’s game against the New York Giants on Thursday will be their third in 12 days. After New York, their next game isn’t until Monday night against the New York Jets.
Slater hasn’t been the only one to be critical of the NFL’s Thursday night schedule.
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Prior to last week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams star Todd Gurley called Thursday night football “the dumbest thing ever.”
