Roger Goodell: Players Have Mixed Opinions on Bye Weeks Before Thursday Games

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters at his Super Bowl 52 press conference on Wednesday that players have expressed mixed opinions about having their bye weeks before playing on Thursday Night Football. 

"I think the reaction is clearly mixed within the players that I've spoken to," Goodell said, per Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith. "Obviously, most players don't like a short week, but they sure do love the 10 days that come after that. And in fact, I can remember, distinctly, several conversations about, 'This is like a mini-bye, so don't put the Thursday game close to the bye week, because that's something we want to make sure that we have separated, so we can get the benefits of both of those.'"

At this point, it's no secret players aren't pleased with suiting up on Thursday nights to begin with. 

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has said the games are a "poopfest," while his teammate Doug Baldwin told reporters in November they should be "illegal," per the News Tribune's Gregg Bell. 

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Richie Incognito also had harsh words for the league office following a Thursday night game in November. 

"They suck," Incognito said, according to ESPN.com's Mike Rodak. "They throw a wrench in our schedule. 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 bulls--t. The league makes money off it, and that's all they care about anyway."

According to new data released following the regular season, players suffered an average of 6.9 injuries during Thursday night games compared to 6.3 on games played on Sunday or Monday.

According to ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert, that number represented a spike from 5.7 injuries per Thursday night game on average over the past four years combined. 

"Out of those [four years] only this year slowed a slight uptick, which was not even statistically significant," Goodell said Wednesday, per Seifert. "If you take the [full] period, the injury rate is low. So we do not think that is something we need to overreact to."

Fox reached an agreement with the NFL on Wednesday to broadcast Thursday Night Football for the next five seasons.