Richard Sherman says his right Achilles tendon has been bothering him all season.

“It’s one of them things you just have to play through as long as you can, and when it goes it goes,” the Seahawks cornerback said following Seattle's 22-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night.

So maybe Sherman would’ve blown his Achilles regardless.

Maybe not.

Here’s what we do know: Sherman — like so many other players — was forced to shorten his recovery from one week to the next because of Thursday Night Football. The 29-year-old, who has been nursing a bum Achilles for more than a month, lost three full recovery days so that the NFL could put two teams on the field in monochromatic uniforms and squeeze a fourth national broadcast out of the week.

Under normal circumstances, the four-time All-Pro would’ve spent Monday and Tuesday in cold tubs and hot tubs, in swimming pools, and on massage tables. Thursday would’ve been a light, helmets-only practice. This morning, he’d still have another 48 hours to get his body right.

But, this week, Sherman and the Seahawks went to work on Monday. Wednesday — typically the toughest practice day of the week — became Tuesday, and that light Thursday became a game day.

And, in the third quarter, with his bad Achilles under immense strain, Thursday night’s game became the last one Sherman will play in for a while.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers! l will do everything in my Power to come back faster and stronger than ever. Until then l will be here to cheer my teammates on! l sincerely appreciate the outpouring of support! Means a lot to me.

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) November 10, 2017

For years, fans have been criticizing the level of play on Thursday nights, and rightfully so. With just three days between games, it’s unrealistic to expect players to be at maximum physical capacity — not to mention the quick transition from the execution of one game plan to the implementation and subsequent execution of the next.

The occasional Thursday game is cool. A Thursday game to open the season makes some sense. Thanksgiving is an American staple — and one that's commonly loved by coaches, players, and fans. But, as a general rule, Thursday night games should be reserved for two teams coming off of a bye week. Period.

There are seven weeks of byes in the middle of the NFL calendar, leaving the league with eight opportunities for relatively harmless Thursday games. To me and you, that may seem fine — even preferable, adhering to the first rule of show business: Always leave them wanting more.

But in Roger Goodell’s NFL, playing on eight Thursdays means passing on seven additional opportunities to rake in advertising revenue. And, frankly, from a business perspective, this is mostly bulletproof logic. But for a commissioner and a league that love to get on a soap box about the mindfulness being paid to player safety, it just comes off as hypocritical.

The NFL could actually solve the problem by tossing teams an extra bye week, but that would come at the expense of a preseason game — and, again, the league has no interest in forfeiting even mediocre opportunities to sell the Shield to Budweiser and Papa John’s.

After Sherman was lost for the season, Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin remarked that Thursday night games “should be illegal.” They aren’t. And they aren’t going anywhere. Baldwin and his teammates will just have to suck it up and deal with the discomfort when it’s their turn to do so.

Of course, by “dealing with the discomfort,” I don’t mean utilizing medical marijuana to ease the pain. Because, while that is also legal in the Seahawks’ home state of Washington, the NFL insists that its players rely on opioids to bounce back in time for their next game.

Makes sense, right?