Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Wants an Even Longer NFL Regular Season for Safety
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has an idea of how to help make the game safer: Extend the regular season to 18 games.
Jones explained his logic Monday while appearing on KRLD-FM in Dallas.
His plan would be to reduce the number of preseason games from four to two and add those two games to the regular season. In effect, there would be the same number of total games.
“My solution is real simple, cut back on preseason games,” Jones said in the interview with Shan Shariff and R.J. Choppy. “Have one at each team’s home, play a couple of them and then add two games to the regular season, which I’ve been a proponent of for several years.
“That’s a better equity or a better way of players using what they bring to the table, their talents, their skills, their professional time in pro sports. That’ll give them a bigger pay day that’s fair. The other thing it does is it certainly gives our fans what we all think they deserve and that is a competitive game.”
How would that make it safer for players?
“I think, candidly, it’s probably physically better for players than it is to have the longer preseason, the longer practicing. Our studies show that we actually have a ramped-up injury situation with players during preseason as opposed to the injury factor in the regular season,” Jones told the hosts.
Jerry Jones on @1053thefan is in favor of an 18-game regular season and only two preseason games. "It's probably better physically for players" to play 18 regular season games and only two preseason games. Believes it will "create a safer game for the players."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 28, 2018
It’s not clear what studies he’s referring to, but it’s clear that there have been a rash of major injuries every preseason.
This year, New England Patriots first-round pick Isaiah Wynn, Washington Redskins second-round pick Derrius Guice and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Paul Worrilow are likely out for the season due to preseason injuries.
“First of all, this is debatable,” Jones said. “I think it’s defensible, and really I did present it on the basis that it’s something I think it does, and that’s create a safer game for the players.”
As for his thoughts on cutting back on the length of the preseason, a lot of fans would agree with Jones.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has dusted off the argument for shifting the 16-and-4 NFL season structure to 18-and-2: https://t.co/oe8erCRxv6 pic.twitter.com/oUptgE7H5k
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 28, 2018
While preseason games serve a purpose, four seems to be one or two too many. Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell agrees.
“When I go around to fans, that’s maybe the No. 1 thing I hear,” Goodell said to a group of New York Giants season-ticket holders at an event in August 2017, CBS Sports reported.
“The NFL should do things to the highest possible standards. Preseason games are not that. … There’s value to them, building a team, evaluating players. But there are other ways of doing that. I think we could do it in three (games). Almost every coach has agreed we could get done what we need to in three games,” Goodell added.
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