The NFL is "holding its breath" that this week's Colts-Texans "Thursday Night Football" matchup "finally will be something other than a hard-to-watch blowout," according to Sam Farmer of the L.A. TIMES. The Thursday night games to this point have "been a bust," and the topic is "sure to arise at the NFL's annual fall owners meetings" beginning tomorrow in N.Y. What the league "needs to do next season is arrange the schedule so teams playing Thursday have their bye the previous week." That would give those teams 11 days "between games -- as opposed to four -- and they wouldn't have to play again until a week from the following Sunday." That would be a "true rest," but as it "stands, teams don't have enough time for their players to recover" (L.A. TIMES, 10/7). Asked if the quality of play on Thursdays was being compromised by the short practice weeks, Texans RB Arian Foster said, "Thursday Night Football is pretty annoying for players. I don’t know one player that likes it. I really don’t know a fan that likes it, either. I think it’s just the league’s way to try to generate more revenue but that’s what they are here for.” He added, "(The NFL) emphasize(s) concussions when they start getting hit with lawsuits and then they care about the player safety but Thursday Night Football is putting every player on the football field in danger. Nobody is ready to play physically after a Sunday game but you have to go out there and do it." In Houston, Brian Smith noted the five Thursday games have featured an "average victory margin of 29 points." Asked whether the NFLPA should attempt to address the issues surrounding Thursday night games with the NFL, Foster said that the two bodies are "too linked together to make a difference." Foster: “The union and the league is kind of the same thing." NFLPA President Eric Winston: "Arian is a guy that speaks his mind and I would have been thrilled if he had been interested in being a player rep" (CHRON.com, 10/6).
