Visceral blowback to the NFL's updated rule that players can't lead with their helmets to make contact is straight out of tough-guy football 101. Hard-hitting defensive backs say the league is destroying the physical element of the game or lament that it's changing the sport entirely.
"Do they want us to play flag football?" Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard said. "It's crazy."
Beyond the criticism from old-school players bristling at another rule change or point of emphasis is legitimate confusion as to how the enhanced regulations will actually be enforced. No longer can a player initiate contact with his head anywhere on an opponent's body Wade Boggs Jersey , penalized 15 yards or possibly by ejection in egregious cases, and players and coaches 鈥?offensive guys, too 鈥?are bracing for how it will be applied.
"You just hope it's not called as frequently, because if they are going to call it on every single offensive and defensive lineman, the game is going to be played at a snail's pace," 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said. "It seems like they are neglecting the impact it is going to have on the game, and I don't think they fully understand the scope and how huge it will be."
Contact to a player's head and neck has been a penalty for some time now, but this rule was ramped up to take it a step further. A ball carrier or an offensive lineman can't lower his head into a defender, and a defensive player can't make any part of his helmet the primary point of contact when attempting to tackle.
It's similar to the NCAA rule that has been in place since 2013, though at the college level, "targeting" carries an automatic ejection, reviewable by replay. The league estimated that just two plays last season would've led to an ejection under the new rule that's forcing players to adjust their approaches.
"It's really hard to change the way you've been playing after 20 years," Cowboys safety Jeff Heath said. "You're not always thinking about where you're hitting somebody. You're just trying to get them down. As soon as you start thinking, and second-guessing yourself, I think that's when trouble happens. Hopefully it does the job in keeping players safe but doesn't result in a lot of ejections."
As the NFL alters this rule and another to kickoffs in the name of safety, some players are willing to accept the reasons for changes. Denver's three-time All-Pro linebacker Von Miller said, "They've put in rules to take care of all the players, as well http://www.raidersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-p.j.-hall-jersey , so I'm good with all the rule changes."
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said he used to fight the evolution of football "like an old dog," but has come to accept changes in the name of doing the right thing for players. He expects there to be a wide application of the enhanced helmet rule and doesn't consider it such a bad thing.
"I think it's across the board because it can happen multiple times on any play, where guys use the top of their helmet," Carroll said. "We're just getting out of it. It's really about going back to really good shoulder-leverage play."
That's how Josh Norman feels about it. The Washington Redskins cornerback knows he has accidentally made helmet contact with opponents, but as a player not known for those plays considers this a reminder about sound fundamentals.
"Head up, bowed neck, tackle with your facemask," Norman said. "It's not with the crown of your head. Obviously injuries come. People get paralyzed like that. Nobody should play like that."
To get the message across, coaches Anthony Lynn of the Chargers, Doug Marrone of the Jaguars, Dan Quinn of the Falcons, Mike Vrabel of the Titans and Todd Bowles of the Jets each narrated a clip-by-clip video illustrating how the enhanced rule affects a different position group: running backs , offensive linemen , defensive linemen , linebackers and defensive backs . Hall of Fame running back Curtis Martin and linebackers Willie Lanier , also a Hall of Famer, and Willie McGinest taped minute-long videos explaining to players the importance of stance posture and technique to avoid unnecessary head contact.
In the first test of the heightened emphasis on head contact, Baltimore linebackers Patrick Onwuasor and Kamalei Correa were each flagged for 15-yard penalties in the Hall of Fame game that opened the preseason. Watching that gave Denver coach Vance Joseph a glimpse of what effect the helmet rule will have http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-patrick-omameh-jersey , pointing out it's not just on players to adjust.
"Coaching that part, in my opinion, is going to be the tough part 鈥?not the defenders," Joseph said. "That's been taught and that's been coached for a long time, with the offensive guys using their stiff arm and putting the ball in the proper hand, using their shoulders versus their head. It's going to take teaching."
It's going to take some trial and error in games for players and officials to realize how it will actually be called. Veteran Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander figures it could happen somewhere on the field on any play, so he and his teammates will try to toe the line between watching out for it and not thinking so much that it proves costly.
"You can't really change your mindset," Buffalo safety Micah Hyde said. "That's when you start playing passive, and you start giving up stuff. I don't know, it's kind of hard to explain, it's kind of when your ankle's hurt, you tape it, you're thinking about it, and then you might hurt something else. It's the same along those lines, you can't really think about it: Just go out there and play football."
AP Pro Football Writers Schuyler Dixon, Josh Dubow, Arnie Stapleton and Teresa M. Walker, and Sports Writers Genaro C. Armas Authentic Denzel Ward Jersey , Tim Booth, Dave Ginsburg, Dennis Waszak Jr., John Wawrow and Steven Wine contributed. Matt Ryan pulled out his secret weapons to seal the five-year contract extension that made him the NFL’s highest-paid player.Ryan brought his infant twin boys, Marshall and John, to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s office on Friday, when the deal was signed.
”Tough negotiators,” a smiling Ryan said Monday.
The twins, born on April 8 following a complicated pregnancy for Ryan’s wife, Sarah, and the new contract are reasons for Ryan to have an optimistic new focus on his future.
The extension announced on Thursday is worth at least $100 million , a league record, and could be worth as much as $150 million.
Ryan has been the figurehead of the Falcons during their most successful 10-year run in franchise history. He says he sees the contract as an incentive for the future instead of a reward for leading the team to six playoff seasons, including the Super Bowl run in 2016, when he was named NFL MVP.
”We’ve had some really good teams,” Ryan said. ”But I think the best is in front of us and that’s what has me so excited about my future here and our future as an organization, that we have a lot of really good pieces in place.”
Ryan said when he was drafted in 2008 it was his hope ”to be the quarterback that a franchise leans on for a long time, 15 Yogi Berra Jersey , 20 years. That’s kind of still where my head is at.”
Before the extension, Ryan, who turns 33 on May 17, could have been a free agent after the 2018 season.
The threat of Ryan entering free agency could have been the biggest story of training camp. That was a distraction Ryan and the Falcons were eager to avoid.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff described the extension as ”our primary focus this offseason.”
Now Ryan can focus on football instead of finances as he prepares for the 2018 season.
”I’m happy with the timing of it,” Ryan said. ”I think the organization is very happy with the timing of it. Certainly when we get back to training camp it’s 100 percent about football. … I always felt confident it was going to get done in a smooth way and in a timely manner and I feel like it did.”
There was little question the Falcons would keep Ryan, who has helped to reshape the perception of the franchise.
Before the Ryan era, the Falcons had only eight playoff seasons in 42 years, and none in back-to-back years. With Ryan, the Falcons have made the playoffs in six of 10 years, including the 2016 Super Bowl run.
The contract extension brings continued stability for an offense that also returns wide receivers Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu and running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Dimitroff gave the offense a boost by making wide receiver Calvin Ridley its first-round draft pick last month.
Like Jones, Ridley is from Alabama.
”I guess I’m an honorary Alabama quarterback now,” Ryan said. ”… I’m very excited about Calvin coming here.”
Ryan’s new deal topped the total compensation of the $84 million, three-year guaranteed deal that quarterback Kirk Cousins received from the Minnesota Vikings.
Someday, Ryan will be able to show his twins a photo taken by the Falcons of the day they were in the room when he signed the extension.
”It was a special day for our family,” he said. ”I was excited that they were there. That will always be a great memory for us but also a really cool picture for me to be able to show them when they get older. They won’t remember it, but I’ll tell them I was OK at one point.”
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