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Jon Gruden has spent most of his adult life coaching football. From being a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee to his current gig as an advisor for the Milano Seamen, Gruden has spent almost 40 years analyzing and strategizing the game.
So Jon Gruden has a perspective that very few other people have when it comes to the National Football League. That perspective was recently revealed during an appearance on Pardon My Take when he discussed why he hates Thursday Night Football so much.
“On a short week you really don’t get any time to practice,” Jon Gruden explained. “You don’t get any time to really familiarize yourself with the opponent’s blitzes, the coverages that they run, the stunts that they run up front. You don’t get a chance to study their red zone defense, their third down defense, you don’t get a chance to look at them in goal line and short yardage. So there’s very little preparation.
“And these guys are beat up, man,” he continued. “I don’t like seeing these guys play 61 snaps on Sunday and then have to go play 68 snaps on Thursday. It bothers me. I don’t mind doing it on Thanksgiving, I think it’s a wonderful thing.
“But I do believe when you’re playing Thursday football there’s very little preparation. There’s very little time to recover, and it’s going to take its toll on the performance. You don’t just show up.
“This is not Major League Baseball where we can play a doubleheader and go out and play… it’s not the NBA. No disrespect. But this is a lot of physical contact, man. And a lot of these guys are hurting, they are really sucking it up right now to play.”
It was then brought up that the Baltimore Ravens will be playing three games in 11 days and the NFL is in Week 16, so it could affect the health of that team in the playoffs.
“Exactly,” Jon Gruden agreed. “Hell, I look at Major League Baseball. They won’t even let the pitcher pitch nine innings, right? They’re worried about his arm getting sore, you know? But you’re right. How would you like to be a 12-1 team like the Chiefs and lose a couple players for the first round of the playoffs because they get hurt in one of these games that they’re playing in three you know an 11-day period?
“But, uh, does this microphone work? I want to make sure I can say this clearly. I hate Thursday football. Especially when you got to be the road team and when they make you fly into a different time zone on a Thursday. It’s ridiculous to me. I think you got to be be really honest and careful with how you look at the performances on Thursday night.”
This Thursday’s 6 to 3 final score of the Seahawks and Bears game certainly bolsters Jon Gruden’s stance.