Saints in midst of their first back-to-back Thursday schedule

SmashMouth · 11-26-2018, 12:31 AM

If you happen to see a New Orleans Saints player this week, don’t ask them what day it is.

Chances are, they’ll guess wrong.

As the Saints prepare for their second consecutive Thursday game, they’ve altered the schedule significantly to match a typical work week. This Sunday is like their normal Wednesday, Monday will be like a Thursday, Tuesday will be like a Friday, and all the changes are geared toward making this Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys feel like a typical Sunday.

“I caught myself earlier today saying I'll see you on Wednesday,” Saints linebacker A.J. Klein said on Friday, “but I'll see you on Sunday, (which will) actually be our first work day of the week.”

After beating the Falcons on Thanksgiving, the Saints will head to Dallas on Thursday to face the NFC East-leading Cowboys. This will be the first time the Saints have played back-to-back Thursdays in franchise history.

Saints linebacker Demario Davis doesn’t seem to care about the peculiar schedule.

"Short week, long week, bye week — whatever it is, you've got to stay locked in. Your goals don't change,” he said.

After initially having “Thursday Night Football” begin late in the season in 2006, the NFL shifted to having Thursday games throughout the season in 2012.

The only time the Saints have played two Thursday games in a season was in 2010 when they played the NFL’s Week 1 opening night — which the league began having on Thursday’s in 2002 — and then against the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving later that year.

The back-to-back Thursday schedule certainly seems peculiar, and although it’s new for the Saints, it’s not unprecedented. The Cowboys have actually played back-to-back Thursdays in three of the past four seasons, following their late afternoon Thanksgiving game with another Thursday matchup the following week in 2014, 2016 and 2017.

Still, Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins was surprised to see this oddity when the NFL released the schedule in April.

“When I saw it on our schedule, I was wondering how the hell we’re going to do that,” Rankins said. “It’s just one more thing we got to deal with.”

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11-26-2018, 12:31 AM	#1
SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 38,477 Blog Entries: 29	Saints in midst of their first back-to-back Thursday schedule If you happen to see a New Orleans Saints player this week, don’t ask them what day it is. Chances are, they’ll guess wrong. As the Saints prepare for their second consecutive Thursday game, they’ve altered the schedule significantly to match a typical work week. This Sunday is like their normal Wednesday, Monday will be like a Thursday, Tuesday will be like a Friday, and all the changes are geared toward making this Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys feel like a typical Sunday. “I caught myself earlier today saying I'll see you on Wednesday,” Saints linebacker A.J. Klein said on Friday, “but I'll see you on Sunday, (which will) actually be our first work day of the week.” After beating the Falcons on Thanksgiving, the Saints will head to Dallas on Thursday to face the NFC East-leading Cowboys. This will be the first time the Saints have played back-to-back Thursdays in franchise history. Saints linebacker Demario Davis doesn’t seem to care about the peculiar schedule. "Short week, long week, bye week — whatever it is, you've got to stay locked in. Your goals don't change,” he said. After initially having “Thursday Night Football” begin late in the season in 2006, the NFL shifted to having Thursday games throughout the season in 2012. The only time the Saints have played two Thursday games in a season was in 2010 when they played the NFL’s Week 1 opening night — which the league began having on Thursday’s in 2002 — and then against the Cowboys in Dallas on Thanksgiving later that year. The back-to-back Thursday schedule certainly seems peculiar, and although it’s new for the Saints, it’s not unprecedented. The Cowboys have actually played back-to-back Thursdays in three of the past four seasons, following their late afternoon Thanksgiving game with another Thursday matchup the following week in 2014, 2016 and 2017. Still, Saints defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins was surprised to see this oddity when the NFL released the schedule in April. “When I saw it on our schedule, I was wondering how the hell we’re going to do that,” Rankins said. “It’s just one more thing we got to deal with.” more on NOLA Attached Thumbnails jeanpierre likes this.