Rasul Douglas noticed something different about the cold tub room in the Eagles' NovaCare Complex this week.
It's not exactly a retirement home but …
"When you go in there, there's a bunch of old people in there," Douglas said. "Sitting in the cold tub, laying down, just getting their bodies right."
Yup, it's a short week.
Entering Week 6 of his rookie season, Douglas has never played in a Thursday Night Football game, so he isn't exactly sure what it will be like, nor does he have the firsthand experience to know how to prepare. But plenty of his older teammates have. That's why they're in the cold tubs this week. It's all about recovery.
The NFL is almost completely and unapologetically hypocritical when it comes to games on Thursday nights. The league preaches safety but then makes guys suit up with fewer days for their bodies to recover. But there's really no use in complaining right now; the schedule is the schedule and as long as the league is making money off the Thursday games, they're probably not going anywhere.
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So recovery is important.
Douglas has never played two football games in such a tight window - Sunday and then again Thursday - but the 22-year-old isn't concerned about how his body will hold up for one reason.
"The best thing about me is I'm young," Douglas said. "So that's on my side right now."
That's an advantage many of his teammates don't have. Eight players on the Eagles' 53-man roster are over 30 and 11 more are either 28 or 29. That's not old in people years, but in the NFL, that's pushing retirement age.
The quick turnaround is especially tough for players who are nursing injuries. This week, veteran Chris Long popped up on the Eagles' injury report with some sort of foot injury and has been limited in practice. While the 32-year-old said he'll be fine to play, the short week doesn't make it any easier.
According to Long, dealing with short weeks is something players can kind of teach themselves.
"I just think anytime you come on that short week, everything is accelerated and you have to be more careful about the way you spend your time," Long said. "Because literally, whether it's studying or treatment, you're under a real time crunch. You're running out of hours. It comes up on you quick."
The Eagles beat the Giants, 24-19, in a Thursday Night Football game last year at the Linc in Week 16. Malcolm Jenkins brought up the one thing that made that particular game a little easier on a short week was the Eagles' familiarity with a division rival. They play the Giants twice per season. They haven't played the Panthers since 2015.
Rodney McLeod stressed the importance of the film work this week. The team doesn't even get one real day of practice so studying becomes key. And for the Eagles' defense, it'll face a Panthers team that really has a lot of movement and unique formations. There's a lot to study.
"They do a lot of things to get your eyes moving one way or the other," McLeod said. "Luckily for us, we played a team like that, similar to the Chiefs. I think we already have a mindset of what they like to do. They do a lot of things to keep your eyes moving but keep it simple too."
The Eagles are 11-5 all-time in games on Thursdays and since 2006, when Thursday Night Football began, the Eagles are 4-4 on Thursdays, with three of those wins coming at home.
Home teams have clearly had an advantage since Thursday Night Football began in '06. The home team has won 61.6 percent of them, compared to the normal home team win percentage (54.6 percent) during those same years.
The Panthers began their 2016 season with a TNF loss on the road to the Broncos. That started off a disappointing 6-10 campaign.
So how is Carolina dealing with the short week this year?
"So far, so good," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said Tuesday on a conference call with Philly reporters. "You never know until you play. It's kind of the way it is. Both teams are put at a disadvantage. They have to come here, that's a tough deal. We've gone through that as well, playing on Thursday night on the road on a short week. The biggest thing is just about the game and the way we play."
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson admitted "it's tough" to play a Thursday night game on the road but optimistically pointed out that at least the team doesn't have to change time zones.
They did have to change some of their timing during the week though. The team had a very light practice Monday, and Tuesday was their typical Friday. The team travels to Charlotte on Wednesday and plays Thursday.
There's not much time to prepare. Or to rest their bodies.
That's why so many guys are in the cold tubs. And, as Douglas pointed out, they're not alone.
"This is the money," Douglas said patting his hand on his chest. "The body is the money. You can't make no money if you don't have the body."
