The NFL has expanded the regular season from 16 to 17 games. The question now becomes whether and to what extent teams will manage the workload accordingly.
Buccaneers offensive lineman Ali Marpet hopes that will happen.
Via JoeBucsFan.com, Marpet has expressed a desire for reduced intensity of practices.
“I’m OK with the 17th game if there’s the same or less football in general, right?” Marpet said. “So if we’re reducing our practice time or reducing how much hitting we’re doing in training camp, [I] think that’s what’s relevant. So I’m not opposed to a 17th game, as long as that means we’re not, you know, doing a lot more football than we would be. So again, we just have to scale it back considering we have a 17th game, during training camp and throughout the week.”
Bucs coach Bruce Arians has said that he’s planning to “beat the shit out of” the players during training camp. That statement suggests that Marpet may not get what he’s hoping for, at least not in August.