Coming off an ugly win against Washington at home, the Dallas Cowboys have precious little time to heal up and prepare for Thursday's Thanksgiving Day match-up with the Oakland Raiders. It will represent the third game for Dallas over an 11 day span, which seems like an awfully daunting task.
For the Cowboys, though, and certainly the veterans of the team who are used to such a span each year, it is just business as usual.
"My body feels good," said tight end Martellus Bennett. "You get banged up, you get bruises, things like that, but for the most part, it's football, it's what we do every single day. It's part of the game, getting little bruises and playing through them. A lot of guys are playing hurt already, with nicks and bruises of all kinds, some guys [are] injured and still playing, so that's what we do. It's the last gladiator."
While questions abound concerning the Dallas offense, which has struggled mightily over the past two games, that of the team's health, their ability to bounce back from the Washington game in such a small window, is a seeming afterthought for the players, who say that playing through pain is just a part of life in the NFL.
"Well, this is my seventh year and nobody really cares," said linebacker Bradie James of the busy span of the schedule. "All we can do is go home, lick our wounds. [I'm] glad I have a wife, she can put some ice on me. She's the only one that cares about me.
"At the end of the day, it's about wins and losses, and it's not the first time we've done this, so we've just got to bounce back and get ready."
