Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants 18 games during the NFL regular season

In the last several years, there has been increased importance on player safety from the NFL with several different measures taken with the league. One of the possible changes that has been tossed around the last couple of years has been the extending of the regular season to 18 games while narrowing the preseason down to just two games. It is a concept that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes would work best, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.

“I think candidly it’s probably physically better for players than it is to have the longer preseason, the longer practicing,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday. “Our studies show that we actually have a ramped-up injury situation with players during preseason as opposed to the injury factor in the regular season.”

This is an idea has been consistently discussed due to the increasing preference from NFL players to not want to play in the preseason due to possibly suffering injuries prior to the start of the regular season. However, it could bring an increased physical demand for players to play in meaningful games late in the year to compete for the playoffs.

There has been plenty of pushback because it is viewed by many as increasing the level of health risk to go to that format. It is something that should be discussed at further length in the coming months possibly next offseason when the league makes its annual adjustments.

Nonetheless, this is a possibility that already has the support of one of the league’s most prominent owners.