It’s time for the NFL to shorten its preseason again.
Two weeks of meaningless games will officially be over once the Green Bay Packers finish their game against the Denver Broncos and the clock hits zero on Sunday when the New Orleans Saints face the San Francisco 49ers.
And what a boring week it was.
Aaron Rodgers has not yet played for the New York Jets and probably won’t until the regular season. Josh Allen was not used in the Buffalo Bills’ 9-3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday and top draft picks like Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye were lucky if they had at least 10 pass attempts to their name.
Oh, and Marvin Harrison Jr., selected No. 4 overall, didn’t even play.
But that’s the point, isn’t it? Give your best players a dose of action and leave it at that. Take it easy so no one gets injured. After all, it’s only preseason.
The problem is that you can’t really take it easy on the field. One play can ruin a team’s entire season and maybe even its future.
Just ask the Minnesota Vikings.
Minnesota selected Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, but the 21-year-old’s season is already over after he tore his right meniscus in a 24-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on August 10.
Fortunately, there were no such injuries this week and hopefully everyone will be healthy again after the shortened games on Sunday.
This is not a new problem. Players have been suffering season-ending injuries during preseason for years. But when you see how little some of the league’s top talents have played in the last two weeks, do we really need to endure three preseason games every year?
We’re not saying the preseason needs to be done away with entirely. Going into the regular season with no preparation would likely lead to more injuries, so obviously there needs to be some form of live games in the summer.
One preseason game should be enough, though. Or, if the league is so determined to have multiple games, how about two or three with 10-minute quarters? Maybe just give each team five drives per game and whatever happens, happens.
These games are unimportant. Throw the rules overboard.
If the goal is truly to develop some players and have others just there to shake off the rust, the league doesn’t need those guys on the field for 60 minutes.
Still, there are people who vouch for the preseason. It’s the first football game after a break of about five months; there are still stars on the field and the ticket prices are cheaper when you have nothing better to do on a summer evening at the end of the week.
Sports bettors are also not opposed to an additional three weeks of football.
But the top story this week? Jacksonville Jaguars backup quarterback Mac Jones threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-7 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
It just feels wrong to put players like Patrick Mahomes at risk in games that mean nothing just so backups and third-stringers get their time to shine. And maybe it’s not the league’s job to adjust its preseason rules. Maybe coaches should just rest their best players until it matters.
Luckily, we only have to endure this for another week. Let’s just hope it passes quickly.
