EJay
Scout Team
They should only have teams coming off a bye week play on Thursday.
With the exception of Thanksgiving, there shouldn't be ANY Thursday games. And all those playing on Turkey day should have the BYE the week prior, as you suggest.
Thursday night football = garbage football 90% of the time. Even if player safety wasn't a concern, the quality of play should be.
If the NFL is so hellbent on another "primetime" night game, they should do Saturay nights instead. And if they don't want to or can't do Saturday nights until the college season is over, then even Tuesday nights would be better than Thursday's, as it could just be an extension of the same week (as MNF is) and would provide an extra day of rest than these players get playing on Sunday then Thursday.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favor of ANY games being played except on SUN and MON. But if you're gonna do it, give these guys the most rest possible including strategic BYE weeks beforehand. And limit ALL teams to ONE appearance on THURS.