(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
Again, Dallas has three games in 11 days, and then there's the brutal travel. I understand the attraction to air Cowboys games in prime time, but at some point, is the onus on the NFL to protect its players? Secondly, is the team able to sign off and approve the schedule, reaping some of the blame? – David Nestle/Vandalia, OH
Mickey: Great question and the answer is somewhat complicated. Teams can submit dates to the NFL their stadium will not be available for home games for whatever reason. Scheduling requests can be made early in the process, but there will be no strikes accepted once the final 272-game, 18-week version of the schedule is finalized. So, the hope is the schedule takes into account travel when it comes to player safety, the number of times a team is scheduled to play within a short period of time and when teams are forced to play during a short week (Thursdays). Having said all this, the computer sure didn't do the Cowboys any favors having them open the season on a Sunday night on the East Coast and then requiring them to take a 10-hour plane ride to Rio De Janeiro like 10 or 11 days later in a Week 3 Sunday game. On top of that, then after playing a Week 4 noon road game at Houston, asking them to play the Week 5 game on a short week, Thursday night next. This is indeed a brutal five-game stretch, three of the five games involving travel.
Tommy: No, to my knowledge the Cowboys do not get to approve the schedule that the NFL comes up with. Beginning in January, the Cowboys can alert the NFL of any events taking place at AT&T Stadium so as to not schedule home games on those dates, but outside of that the league uses their schedule making team and computers to determine a multitude of outcomes and ultimately shape it down to the final version.
As for playing three games in 11 days, that's nothing new and will more than likely be a part of every schedule for Dallas because the team plays on Thanksgiving. That's because most years, Dallas plays on Sunday, the next Sunday, and then on Thanksgiving (although last year the Cowboys' schedule was Sunday to a Thursday game, and then playing another Thursday game the following week.) Even if it isn't in the Thanksgiving stretch of the year, there usually is a Sunday-Sunday-Thursday stretch somewhere in there.
Mailbag
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