The NFL is still trying to get used to the new kickoff setup, but for the first time this preseason, the new safety kickoff rule was shown in the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos game. Zach Wilson was sacked in the endzone by Zach Morton, and what followed was Will Lutz kicking the ball from their own 20-yard line. In the past rules, the team that had just gotten the safety had favorable field position, but not with these new rules.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur let it be known after the game that he wasn't a fan of the new rules.
“I don’t really like it,” LaFleur said. “You lose the advantage that you get from the safety. It is what it is; that’s the rule. We’ll just have to play it that way. But I think you really lose the advantage of the field position that you typically gain from a safety.”
As the rule shows up for amongst the league, there's a chance that more coaches, and even players, share their thoughts on the changes.
Packers' HC not happy with new kickoff rule
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur doesn't like the new kickoff rule, and more people probably don't like it as well. The NFL decided to change kickoff rules and make them similar to spring football leagues. For regular kickoffs, the kicker will stand alone at his 35-yard line, and the rest of the team will line up five yards apart from each other.
The rules were changed to address the low kickoff return rate last season and to also cut down on injuries that transpired during the kickoff returns. So far in the preseason, there have been no kickoff returns, and injuries have not been seen as much as well.
In the Packers and Broncos case during their game, the safety kicks will also be different. On those kicks, the ball will be kicked with a tee, something that hadn't been allowed in the previous rules.
The league is still trying to get accustomed to the rules, and it was shown in Week 1 of the preseason with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars when Hardman was called for a safety after he picked the ball up from one-yard line and ran into the end-zone to kneel.
While Andy Reid was frustrated, Doug Pederson took it as a learning lesson.
“I think they’re trying to work that out. Normally, when a ball goes in the end zone and you touch it there, then it’s a dead ball, but we’ll get it cleared up and see what they come up with,” Reid said after the game.
“I think it's a good coaching point for all teams to really coach our returners in that situation,” Pederson said. “It's definitely going to be on the coach's video that's going to come out this week, and it is really a good teaching moment for everybody, us included, for our returners.”
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