Davy Burke says he's "never felt a comedown" like the one he's going through following Roscommon's elimination from the All-Ireland Football Championship.
Roscommon's pursuit of Sam Maguire this season ended last weekend following a defeat to Cork in the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.
"I've lost loads of big games and will continue to lose loads of big games," Burke told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"Jesus, it's like I've been in a car crash or something. The intensity of what we've been doing for six or seven months has been incredible. I've never experienced anything like it. The comedown is unbelievable for me right now. I'm just wrecked."
Burke and Westmeath manager Dessie Dolan both feel the extension of the championship by a week would make it a better competition.
24 June 2023; Donie Smith of Roscommon receives attention during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Preliminary Quarter Final match between Cork and Roscommon at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile
"If you look at last weekend, [Gaway's] Damien Comer came off at half-time [against Mayo], [Roscommon's] Donie Smith came off after 32 minutes, and [Kildare's] Ben McCormack came off at half-time [against Monaghan]," said Burke.
"For me, if those three boys stay on the field, I think you have three different teams in your quarter-finals. It's the loads. It's player welfare. It's a killer.
"I don't think those teams can have anyone else to blame other themselves for ending up in the round of 12 [rather than going straight through to the quarter-finals]. That's not a GAA issue. Certainly, for ourselves, we have no one to blame but ourselves that we were in the round of 12, and I'm sure Galway would say the same thing if they were here today.
"A few weeks ago, ourselves and Dessie would have played in a challenge game with a mixture of squads and the pitch was burnt alive. We had blisters coming out our ears. Lads are getting literally no recovery whatsoever. If their feet aren't burning off them, they are carrying a hamstring, carrying a soft tissue injury. You just can't win.
"We just need a week or two here and there thrown into it. That's all we need. We don't need another month. I think another week or so thrown in and that would be a perfect system. I love the games. I know my lads love the games. We love going week on week."
Dolan said player welfare needs to be taken into greater consideration.
18 June 2023; Ronan Wallace of Westmeath reacts to a decision during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 3 match between Tyrone and Westmeath at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
"Great games, and lots of games as well, but there's one key aspect in this, and that's player welfare. In terms of the work they're doing, the vital aspect they're missing is rest," he said.
"We were nursing players through games but three players weren't available to us the day we played Tyrone. Equally, Tyrone were missing Darren McCurry.
"I actually feel sorry for Tyrone insofar as they're out again this weekend [against Kerry]. I just don't know how Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan are going to keep their players fit and available.
"You're not looking for this big, long, drawn-out group thing where you have loads of time to recover. You're saying an extra week would give an opportunity for players because people forget they have to go to work.
"The recovery is when they're trying to work. Then they're preparing for another game. You're doing analysis, you're trying to recover from the game. You're trying to fit all that into a working week as well, and God forbid have a little bit of a life as well in there somewhere.
"Just the volume of that for amateur players, this is the bit that people need to worry about, that they are amateurs. Even for me, I felt like I was pushing lads too much."
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