The normal way to approach your starters’ playing time in the preseason is to have them play a little bit in the first game, a little more in the second game and as long as an entire half or more in the third game before winding down and giving them a series or two in the final game.
Reasons Not To Play Starters In NFL Preseason Finale
The Kansas City Chiefs didn't take that approach this year. They treated the final preseason game on Thursday night like their third one and had many starters in the game late into the fourth quarter.=
Players can get injured any time but the reasons against doing what the Chiefs did are these: QB Matt Cassel, RB Jamaal Charles, TE Tony Moeaki, OT Barry Richardson and S Eric Berry.
Those are all starters and they all, at one point in the game, went limping off the field. We’re not sure if any of them are serious -- Cassel seems fine and Charles later returned -- but they’re good examples of why you don’t want to risk your players in the fourth and final preseason game.
That said, maybe the Chiefs have an advantage heading into the season because a lot of their starters are coming off a week in which they played an entire game.
We’ll see but, as a Chiefs fan, those players getting banged up certainly worries me.
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