MySa Blog: Crayton on the challenge of preparing for a Thanksgiving Day game

[WoodysGirl]

By Tom Orsborn on Nov 23, 09 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) Save & Share

IRVING - Even though most of the Cowboys are old hands when it comes to knowing how to prepare for the Thanksgiving Day game, it's still a difficult task, WR Patrick Crayton says.

"Monday is a true mental practice," Crayton said when asked to describe what the team will do this week. "It's at a slower pace, so you can get some of the looks and everything because you can't go full tilt after a game like this. In a regular week, you are usually not doing anything on Monday other than a little light running, a little light lifting. Then we've got Tuesday off and then comes Wednesday and you are back to the grind. Those two days lets your body recover. Now you get one, because Tuesday we've got to hit it hard again."

So is it true that an NFL player's body feels like it's been through a car wreck after a game?

"It depends on who you ask," Crayton said. "You ask a lineman, linebacker, fullback, running back, car wreck. A receiver? Fender bender."

 

[Temo]

With the affinity Crayton has for sidelines, I'm no surprised he only feels like a fender bender.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Cowboys Not Worried About Short Week
BY Scott Crisp // Monday, Nov 23, 2009 at 01:16 CST

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."

http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/Cowboys-Not-Worried-About-Short-Week-71732302.html