Philadelphia Eagles WR A.J. Brown Says NFL Should Get Rid of Monday Night Football
After a tough two-game stretch on the road, this Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles will be playing at home against the New York Giants, but not everyone on the team is excited about their schedule.
Ahead of this week’s matchup, Eagles’ star wide receiver, A.J. Brown, has taken a public stance against Monday Night Football games to help protect players’ health ahead of Philadelphia’s fourth MNF game of the season.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown isn’t a fan of Monday Night Football games.
USA TODAY
“Right after the game, you only have a certain amount of time for your body to recover,” Brown said. “I think they should take MNF out. I know it’s cool.. but to turn around after is very difficult. Especially when banged up.”
Brown’s sentiments support that of other players who have criticized the NFL for promoting player safety in the media but then having games on days that hurt the recovery timeline, while strictly playing on Sundays would afford athletes consistent recovery time.
Another instance of a player calling out the NFL’s weekly scheduling of games came from Richard Sherman in 2016 when he wrote an essay for the Players Tribune titled, Why I Hate Thursday Night Football. Quite ironic coming from a guy who is now an analyst on Amazon Prime's TNF coverage.
“The NFL preaches player safety,” Sherman wrote. “The league says it wants to do everything in its power to protect its players. But when it comes down to it, it’s not the players that the NFL protects. . . . It’s the Shield.”
Perhaps in the future, players’ health and the schedule of teams will line more closely, but in the meantime, Brown must get back to his dominant season.
From Weeks 3 through 8, Brown had an astonishingly productive six-game stretch where he surpassed at least 125 yards per game; unfortunately, he’s cooled off. Since Week 8, there has only been one game where the receiver has had at least 95 receiving yards (Week 13, 114 yards).
With the Eagles struggling as of late, the team will depend on him as a veteran to help them regain rhythm over the final three regular-season games before attempting a Super Bowl run in the playoffs to avenge last year’s loss.
Luckily for Brown, Philly was given a Christmas miracle. Monday’s Christmas Day game against the Giants is the team’s second straight MNF game in a row, so his body will have had the optimal amount of recovery time to add to his 1,314 receiving yards this season.
