There's an eyesore in the middle of the otherwise spacious and carpeted Washington Redskins locker room. Eight small, metal lockers have been moved in, the visual equivalent of a chain link fence installed in front of a multimillion dollar house.

The Redskins have no choice. They've placed five players on injured reserve in the last two weeks, and the replacements they keep signing need to have somewhere to hang their sweat pants.

Bodies are breaking down across the league, as they always do: 44 players were placed on injured reserve in the last two weeks. Last Sunday, both of the Super Bowl's starting quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner, were on the bench with concussions.

And there are still five weeks to go in the regular season and a month of playoffs to follow.

Imagine what would happen if the regular season were even longer. The NFL is looking at expanding from 16 games to 17 or possibly 18. At a time when there is heightened concern over injuries _ particularly concussions _ that hardly sounds like a good idea to the men in the trenches.

"To add those extra two games, that's adding a lot more stress on your body as a player," Denver Broncos defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. "Even when you're talking about more compensation, when's enough enough? And how much can your body take?"

Players interviewed league-wide by The Associated Press had numerous concerns about an expanded schedule. Some feel the quality of play would suffer. Many said the number of players on the roster almost certainly have to be expanded beyond the already cumbersome 53. They would want to be paid more, of course, but some openly questioned whether the extra wear and tear would be worth the extra money.

Then there's the argument that longer seasons shorten careers. A starting offensive linemen might play 120 more snaps over two extra games. A running back might have 30 or 40 more carries. Adding one game doesn't sound like much, but it would represent a 6 1/4 percent increase in the number of regular-season hits, tackles and presumably injuries. Add two games, and it's a 12 1/2 percent increase.

"If you expand the roster, you would have a little bit more depth, but you're getting guys in the league who would otherwise be on the street and the quality of the game could drop," Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Terry Holt said. "It'll be a very heated debate from both parties. The NFL wants to get more games, more exposure, give the fans more for their money, but it terms of body and healthy for the players, we've got an argument, too: You're wearing us out, you're beating us down.