Thursday night games are no fun for NFL coaches or players, but the only benefit is that you get a few days off after such a busy and demanding two-game week.
The Washington Commanders entered Week 10 with two difficult games on their schedule. They hosted the 6-2 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, followed by a Thursday night football date with the 7-2 Philadelphia Eagles.
The commanders haven't had their bye week yet and are currently a bit under the weather. Washington was without running back Brian Robinson Jr. for the second straight day on Sunday, as well as newly acquired cornerback Marshon Lattimore, kicker Austin Seibert, right tackle Andrew Wylie and offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas.
That left some wondering if the Commanders were intentionally sitting some of those players to give them a few days of extra rest until Washington played Philadelphia in the battle for first place in the NFC East.
Head coach Dan Quinn insisted that was not the case.
“It wasn’t. No,” Quinn said after Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. “It was all relative to this game, and everything was just for this week.”
NFL teams do not plan to play next week. They only have 17 games in the regular season and they all count. Of course, the focus is a little more on the division games, but the goal remains to win as many games as possible.
Is it possible that the commanders didn't want to risk further injury if a player was nearby? Sure, but that's not the same as intentionally sitting these players out and holding them until Thursday. In fact, it wouldn't be a surprise if some of these injured players also missed Thursday's game.
