SportsChanges to NFL Ball, Kickoffs for Defense - NFL

Changes to NFL Ball, Kickoffs for Defense – NFL

Given the significant changes in the NFL’s kicking game, the competition committee will have the league adopt a college rule that allows touchbacks on fair receptions on kickoffs and moves the touchback spot on punts to the 25-yard line.

NFL executive Troy Vincent said Friday the competition committee changed the rules on kickoffs and college spring leagues to try to reduce injuries from one of the most dangerous plays.

Vincent said the league needs more data from the XFL rule that minimizes high-speed collisions by lining up coverage players 35 yards ahead of the kicker and 5 yards ahead of blockers, but said the college rule allows for fair receptions. are treated as touchbacks. Reduce injuries by “20 to 25%”

“It’s not going to be perfect. I think it deserves a good discussion in the room,” Vincent said.

“The one thing we all agreed on is that you can’t leave that game alone, not with the injury rate we’ve seen. It cannot be left alone.”

Rich McKay, chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, said the league has discussed various ideas to change the punting game, which currently has high injury and penalty rates.

But for now, the team is proposing a simpler approach of moving touchbacks 20 to 25 yards in hopes of reducing the number of punts.

“If we put this rule in place, you can actually encourage people to try it on fourth down,” McKay said.

Those two rule changes are among eight rules proposed by the competition committee that will be considered by owners at next week’s meeting in Arizona. Any rule changes require the support of at least 24 of the 32 teams.

There are nine more possible rule changes proposed by teams previously announced by the league and voted on next week.

A passer roughing penalty and personal foul penalties subject to video review, the option to attempt a fourth and 20 from the kicking team’s 20-yard line instead of attempting an onside kick, and the addition of a tenth. Seconds from the last ballpark clock in both areas and an additional spot on the game-day roster for an emergency quarterback.

The league will continue to study, but is not ready to vote on possible rule changes in two other areas that were looked at last season: “push play” and “hip drop tackles.”

The so-called “push game,” used largely by the NFC champion Eagles this season, involves players pushing quarterback Jalen Hurts forward with short-range QB passes.

McKay said there was no evidence the play caused further injury and there was no consensus on the rule change.

“I think we will be watching and studying if that changes,” he said. “There certainly aren’t 24 people who think it should be changed.”

The “drop hip” tackle led to several injuries, including a broken leg to Dallas’ Tony Pollard and an ankle injury to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs.

Vincent says the injury rate on hip drop takedowns is 20% higher than normal, similar to the already banned “horse collar” takedowns. But finding the best way to change the rule is difficult.

“The challenge we have is how do you define it, what is its true prevalence, and how do we get it out of the game,” McKay said. “There is a process for that. I think that’s what we’ll go through. I’m not giving you a timetable, but we’re on it… We understand there’s injury data that says we need to look at this. So we’re on it.

Owners will consider whether to add a “flex” option to Thursday Night Football to ensure Amazon has more competitive games in that package. Miller said there’s no evidence that playing games on short rest leads to more injuries, though players balk at seeing some teams forced to play extra games on Thursdays, which could make ticket holders uncomfortable.

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