There aren’t many cases in which players would prefer to have a quick four-day turnaround before playing another football game.
This might be one of them.
The Eagles lost a heartbreaker of a game, 27-26, to the Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday. It was their sixth one-score loss of the season and it came when they failed to score on a two-point conversion. Head coach Doug Pederson described the team as “dejected” after the loss.
Thanks to this Thursday night’s game against the Giants, the Eagles don’t have to wait very long to attempt to get that bad taste out of their collective mouths.
“I would say, coming in here right away Monday, tough, emotional loss, the way it was in Baltimore,” quarterback Carson Wentz said, “to be able to flip the script and go forward was probably a good thing. To turn the page and go onto New York, I think it's been a good thing.”
The Eagles have an extremely shortened schedule this week to prepare for the Giants. Game-planning on the short week will be a little easier against a familiar opponent like the Giants than it would be against a different team.
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Since Thursday night games started in 2006, many athletes have spoken out against the game, saying it’s hypocritical for the NFL to claim to care about player safety then force games on short rest.
Just last week, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman called Thursday Night Football a “poopfest.”
“Thursday night games aren't in the interest of the players, but there's money in it,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said on Tuesday. “And if it comes down to us and the money, they're going to take the money. But we got a job to do. We sign up to play 16 games, whatever day of the week those games fall on, so we play.”
Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz said scheming for this Thursday’s game is easier because of the opponent, but the tough part is the execution. He said they have to “sort of brainwash” themselves into a schedule. He told his players on Thursday morning “that’s it’s Friday right now.”
“You can go on fumes for a week and have a little chance to catch our breath after this,” he said.
Linebacker Jordan Hicks said because coaches will choose to limit physicality in practice this week, it’s up to players to make up for it with film study and attention to detail. Players need to be ready without those extra reps, he said.
Wentz is finding it a little difficult to change his schedule this week because he said he finally got into a routine as a rookie that he felt comfortable with.
“But at the same time, it's kind of exciting,” he said. “It's exciting to be on national TV, to be on Thursday night. It's something new, something different. At this point in the year, it's kind of good to mix it up and change it. It's been a quick week, but a good week.”
