When last we heard from Bills offensive lineman Richie Incognito, he was telling the Raiders to get in his belly. Something else has gotten inside another area of his anatomy.
Asked about Thursday games, Incognito said (via ESPN.com), “They suck.” The fact that the Bills lost to the Jets likely had something to do with that assessment.
“They throw a wrench in our schedule,” Incognito said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous that we have to do this. As physical as this game is, as much work and preparation that goes into this, to force us to play games on four-day weeks, it’s completely unfair and bullsh-t. The league makes money off it, and that’s all they care about anyway.”
Incognito is the latest player to complain about short-week football, and he’s hardly the last. But plenty of players like the fact that the shorter work week results in fewer intense practices, followed by a mini-bye on the back end.
Regardless of how Incognito or anyone else feels, Thursday Night Football is going nowhere. The competitive disadvantage affects both teams, and the league requires no team to do it more than once per year. Besides, and as Incognito realizes, the league makes money from it. What he didn’t mention is that this money pays the players.