DeAndre Hopkins has said that the NFL must ensure that no team in the future confronts the glut of fixtures that the Chiefs face in Weeks 16 and 17. They play on Saturday versus the Texans before going up against the Steelers on Wednesday, Christmas Day.
The wide receiver, who came to Kansas City midseason, said he has never faced such a short turnaround in his career. DeAndre Hopkins commented that the league should consider giving teams a mini-bye if this situation recurs because otherwise, it would affect player safety. He said,
“Never played this many games in short amount of time. I think the league should definitely do something about that. You know, if that’s given team some kind of, you know, mini bye or, you know, somewhere down the line. But I feel like you know, as you know, we coach or they preach player safety.”
The Chiefs last played on Sunday, which makes it three games in 11 days. Even this week is a short one for them since they are playing on Saturday and DeAndre Hopkins made his feelings clear, noting,
“I don’t feel like this is the best situation for any team to play three games in this amount of days. So I feel like the league should definitely, you know, try to review that after this season to see how it can help players safety in the future.”
DeAndre Hopkins is NOT happy with the #Chiefs schedule having 3 games in a 10 day span:
“I think the NFL should definitely do something about that; they preach player safety; I don't feel like this is the best situation”
😳😳😳
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 20, 2024
DeAndre Hopkins and Chiefs have chance to nearly cement top seed in AFC in Week 16
The Chiefs are currently 13-1 and two games ahead of the 11-3 Bills. Buffalo has three winnable games against Patriots (twice) and the Jets, both of whom have losing records and have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Meanwhile, Kansas City has to deal with Texans, Steelers, and Broncos in their final three weeks. All of them have winning records and are expected to make it to the postseason. If DeAndre Hopkins and his team lose two of their three games, they will give Josh Allen and his colleagues a chance to secure the first-round bye in the Wild Card round.
However, if they win two of them, then they will ensure that they capture the top spot in the AFC. Their matchup against Houston will be the first assignment they have to navigate. Luckily for them, Patrick Mahomes is expected to play the game after fans initially feared that his ankle injury against the Browns might be serious enough to rule him out of contention.
