Player safety has been at the forefront of concerns ever since the NFL adopted a 17-game regular season in 2021—and with even more games potentially on the horizon, athletes concerned for their well-being are making their voices heard.
Patrick Queen, an inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, recently shot down a proposed two-bye week, 20-game season from former Steelers nose tackle Breiden Fehoko on social media.
Not only did Queen quickly dismiss the idea as “crazy,” he also argued that two bye weeks should be mandatory for the already in-place 17-game season and went further by calling for the elimination of OTAs and minicamp:
“20??? You crazy if you think ppl will last through that! Pre season is how under the radar players make their cases! We play 17 games we should have 2 bye weeks as is.. Definitely scratch otas and mini camp start training camp back up around July 17”
Ironically, Fehoko missed out on his opportunity to make his Pittsburgh Steelers debut due to injury and many players would more than likely suffer a similar fate if this were to take place. Almost no one would deny that Queen is right in his assessment—that a 20-game season would be far too taxing on players’ bodies to make the additional three games worth playing.
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