The Seahawks got the win, but their Super Bowl chances took a huge hit Thursday night with Richard Sherman tearing his Achilles.
Sherman’s teammate, Doug Baldwin, spoke out after the 22-16 win over the Cardinals to bash the mid-week games in perhaps the harshest terms yet.
“This [expletive] should be illegal,” Baldwin told the (Tacoma) News Tribune. “It is not OK. It’s not OK. You can quote me on that.”
Baldwin pulled his quadriceps in pregame warmups, but still had five catches for 95 yards. The Seahawks also lost left tackle Duane Brown (ankle), running back C.J. Prosise (ankle), defensive tackle Jarran Reed (hamstring), defensive end Frank Clark (thigh), safety Kam Chancellor (stinger) and linebacker Michael Wilhoite (calf) to injuries.
Many players have been critical of Thursday night football since its inception during the 2006 season. It was expanded from a half-season package to a full-season one in 2012. The level of play dips and the risk of injury rises in the matchup.
“Yeah, you know, it’s tough,” Bills lineman Richie Incognito said after the team’s loss to the Jets last Thursday. “These Thursday night games — they suck. They throw a wrench in our schedule. It’s absolutely ridiculous that we have to do this. As physical as this game is, as much work and preparation that goes into this, to force us to play games in four-day weeks is completely unfair. And it’s [expletive].
“But, you know, whatever. The league makes money off of it. That’s all they care about, anyway. So we just keep trucking. We’ve got a tough group of guys in this locker room, so it’s back to the drawing board, back to Buffalo, and we’ve got the Saints.”