Kickoffs are work in progress
The NFL has been tinkering with kickoff rules for the last several years, as the kickoff has double the rate of concussions as a regular play from scrimmage.
The kicking team can no longer take a running start. Players have to be evenly spaced across the line. The touchback was moved from the 20-yard line to the 25. And this year, a kickoff can be fair caught in the field of play and placed on the 25.
Coaches and players are especially opposed to the fair catch rule. There was just one squib kick and no fair catches on kickoffs in the first week of the preseason, an NFL spokesman said. Even NFL vice president of communications Jeff Miller acknowledged this past week, “I don’t think anyone’s satisfied with where we are on the kickoff play.”
“We want a play where there’s more kicks returned, yet we want to limit some of the risks associated with it,” Miller added. “Is it possible to do both of those things? I think the answer is yes, but we need some creative solutions as to how.”
One solution that Miller said the league is studying is the XFL’s answer. While the ball is still kicked from the
35, the 10 other players on the kicking team line up on the opposing side of the field, just 5 yards from players on the receiving team. This eliminates fullspeed collisions that are common on kickoffs, but allows for the excitement of kickoff returns.
Rich McKay, the chairman of the NFL’s competition committee, said in May that he initially hated the aesthetic look of the XFL’s kickoff, but it’s worth considering if it can keep the kickoff in the game.
“My first watch of it as a pure fan was, ‘Wow, I’m not all jacked up about this,’ ” McKay said. “I would say I’ve watched a lot of it now and I see the benefits, because you are clearly creating much more of an offense/defense play. By eliminating some of that space and speed, you’re definitely making it safer. There’s some cool alternatives coming down the path here. You’ve got to understand the injury implications before you do it, and we have a history as a league where if we’re not quite sure or ready to do it, we can do it in the preseason.”
A new beginning
One player certainly hoping for a bounce-back year is Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson. He signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal last March, but little went right in his first season in Los Angeles. Jackson, who had 17 interceptions in 2020-21 for the Patriots, had none in five games with the Chargers and said he struggled adapting to a new defense.
Jackson missed two early-season games after having offseason ankle surgery, was benched in October after surrendering several big catches, then suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 7.
Although Jackson is still limited by his knee injury and isn’t a lock to play in Week 1, he feels better this year.
“Last year was my first year. I was still trying to understand the defense, still trying to understand my teammates, the coaches,” Jackson said this past week. “This year, I feel like I’m at home, and I’m playing way faster — you can tell that I’m on it. The coach says the call, I’m already on it. I get it this year.”
Extra points
I’m starting to feel bad for Trey Lance, the third-year quarterback who is once again struggling in 49ers camp. Every misfire, poor read, and failed drive this preseason is being dissected and magnified because of the massive price the 49ers paid to get him (three first-round picks). Lance came into the NFL as a raw prospect who didn’t play much college football, and injuries have derailed his development, to the point that he’s now running third behind Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold, and may even be fourth behind Brandon Allen. Lance still has two years and $6.2 million fully guaranteed on his deal, so the 49ers probably wouldn’t get much in a trade. But it seems increasingly clear that the situation is too pressurized, and he and the 49ers need a divorce. Lance is only 23, and still has the raw athleticism that had scouts optimistic in 2021. The Vikings make sense —GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah came from the 49ers front office, and they only have Nick Mullens and rookie Jaren
Hall behind Kirk Cousins ...Oneofthe best stories of training camp is Chargers rookie defensive end C.J. Okoye ,a Nigerian native who was discovered last year as part of the NFL’s international pathway program. Okoye got a sack on the final play of the Chargers’ preseason win over the Rams, Okoye’s first football game. “Sometimes it hits me, ‘You’re in the states with the Chargers in the NFL. You need to make the most out of it,’ ” Okoye said. “I’m shocked every day, but I still need to go out and do my thing.” . . . Eagles center Jason Kelce, a five-time All-Pro and half of an entertaining podcast duo with his brother, Travis, has a documentary tracking his 2022 season appropriately entitled, “Kelce,” to be released Sept. 12 on Prime Video. The project began two years ago and was supposed to be about an NFL player’s final season and transition into retirement, but Jason Kelce keeps coming back for more. “You kind of get a good glimpse of what it’s like to be in the NFL from a lot of different perspectives,” he said . . . Remember that the Jets have full veto power, and nothing gets on “Hard Knocks” by accident. Last week’s episode showed a clip of coach Robert Saleh chewing out the offensive line, which came days after Saleh took heat in the local media for not being critical enough of his team. And the episode also heaped praise on rookie defensive end Will McDonald, whom the Jets took No. 15 overall. Jets GM Joe Douglas has been criticized this offseason for trading down from No. 13 to 15 and missing out on offensive tackle Broderick Jones, who went to the Steelers at No. 14 after they traded up with the Patriots. The criticism may be valid, as the Jets’ offensive tackle situation has been a mess in training camp.