Sure, you might be ready for some football come Thursday night, but Ron Rivera? Not so much.
The two-time NFL Coach of the Year understands why his Panthers are facing the Broncos in Denver in a Super Bowl rematch for NBC to open the 2016 season, but he'd just as soon get in the regular regular-season routine.
“If I had my druthers, I’d have liked to start the season differently, but I don’t,” Rivera told reporters Sunday (via the Charlotte Observer). “It’s Thursday and we only have a week, whereas all the other teams are going to have 10 or 11 days, which would be kind of neat to have as you prepare and get ready.”
Rivera's "druthers" also included the Panthers opening at home, with a chance to celebrate their NFC title one last time. Instead, he called the weekend a "mad scramble" as the team set its 53-man roster by 4 p.m. ET Saturday and then put together its practice squad Sunday afternoon.
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“Being defending NFC champs, it’d have been nice to open up the regular season at home. But it didn’t work that way,” Rivera said. “I don’t set the schedule. We just go out and play the game. So we’re going to play the game to the best of our ability and hopefully do things the right way.”
The Panthers-Broncos opener is just the second time the previous season’s Super Bowl teams have met in Week 1. The other time it happened: 1970 when the Chiefs and Vikings met in their opener.
If it's any consolation to Rivera, the Vikings beat the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, 27-10, that year.
