Jon Gruden has not softened his position on one of the NFL’s most debated scheduling fixtures, and the league office is unlikely to be moved by it regardless.
The former Super Bowl-winning head coach turned analyst still believes the NFL should eliminate Thursday Night Football entirely, a stance he reiterated this week.
The position is consistent with what Gruden has said repeatedly since last season, when a sloppy Week 10 matchup between the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders, which finished 10-7, became his rallying point.
“No preparation, no time to recover, no chance,” Gruden said at the time on Barstool Sports’ “The Shred Line.” “Get rid of these Thursday night games! Dump them! It’s not fair to the players, it’s not fair to the coaches.”
Former NFL Coaches Jon Gruden attended an NFL training camp session ten at the Miller Electric Center, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]
Why Gruden’s argument keeps resurfacing and why the NFL isn’t likely to budge
The argument against Thursday games mainly comes down to two fundamental issues. Teams playing on a standard Sunday-to-Sunday schedule get a full week to prepare, including multiple full-contact practices. Teams turning around for a Thursday game compress all of that into roughly three days, limiting practice time, film study and physical recovery before another collision-heavy game.
🚨🚨Jon Gruden still believes that #NFL should eliminate Thursday Night Football games
— NFL Rumors (@nflrums) June 21, 2026
Amazon signed an 11-year media rights deal with the NFL worth roughly $1 billion annually for exclusive Thursday Night Football streaming rights, a partnership that runs through the 2033 season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has previously said publicly that he does not believe the league is putting players in harm’s way with the current format.
Gruden’s complaint is far from a fringe opinion. Players and coaches across the league have voiced similar frustrations for years about short-week recovery, even as the broadcast and streaming revenue from Thursday games has only grown.
With Goodell reportedly signaling that negotiations for a new broadcast rights deal could begin as soon as this year, the league’s scheduling structure heading into the next media cycle remains an open question, even if Thursday games themselves are not going anywhere soon.