CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina star running back Christian McCaffrey said on Thursday after practice that he “definitely” thinks he can play Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles and also came out strongly against the NFL’s tradition of Thursday night football games.
McCaffrey hurt his hamstring in a Thursday night road game against Houston on Sept. 23 and said he believed the short week of preparation after playing a game on Sept. 19 played a part in that injury.
When asked if he thought the NFL should stop playing Thursday night games entirely, McCaffrey said: “If you’re going to ask me, I would definitely say — and I think I’m not alone in this — I would probably argue against them. ... It is frustrating sometimes when you feel like something could be avoided with a little more rest. ... That’s just me and my personal views.”
McCaffrey said if he had had “another three or four days to recover,” as in a traditional Sunday-to-Sunday NFL schedule, that this latest injury likely wouldn’t have occurred. He also said he wasn’t “complaining” but was simply making the point that Thursday night games were in general not good for NFL players’ health.
Most NFL teams play one Thursday game per year, whether it is in the evening or on Thanksgiving Day. It’s worth noting that McCaffrey hardly ever wades into any controversial topic, so his stand against Thursday games was unusual.
“I don’t prefer Thursday night games, you know what I mean?” said McCaffrey, speaking to the press for the first time since his injury two weeks ago. “You go through a lot in a football game and you really get two days to recover, and then one of those days is a travel day (for a road game, as the 24-9 win over Houston was). ... It’s tough. But it is what it is. It’s part of the game — but obviously frustrating.”
As for playing this coming Sunday for a Panther team tied for the NFC South lead, McCaffrey was limited again Thursday in practice. He said some “honest conversations” with the Panther coaches will determine whether he can play Sunday, but that he felt like he could. McCaffrey also said this hamstring injury was a “completely different injury” from the three separate injuries that kept him out for 13 of the Panthers’ 16 games in 2020. (None of those occurred in a Thursday night game).
As for his mentality, McCaffrey said: “I’ll play full speed, all the time.” As for being on a potential “pitch count” Sunday that would limit his use, McCaffrey said: “Whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do.”
McCaffrey has played in three of Carolina’s four games this season, although he left one game briefly due to cramping and then was hurt in the second quarter of the Houston game. He had 30 touches in Carolina’s first game, 29 in the second and only nine in the third before getting hurt in Houston. He didn’t play in the loss to Dallas for the 3-1 Panthers.
Said DJ Moore, who has been the Panthers’ primary offensive weapon along with McCaffrey and quarterback Sam Darnold: “Having Christian in the game plan at all times is just going to stress the other side out. So to have him is always a plus.”
