Onside-kick alternative to be voted on Thursday
The NFL will vote Thursday on whether to replace onside kicks with an offensive play: fourth-and-15, played from the kicking team’s 25-yard line.
For it to pass, 24 of 32 owners must approve the proposal.
Bears coach Matt Nagy said he’s fine with either result but sounded intrigued by the offensive try.
“Whatever they say, I’m cool with,” he said on NBC Sports Network’s “The Rich Eisen Show” on Wednesday. “I think that what you have to do is, it’s fourth-and-15, you gotta start having some plays that are going to give you the best opportunity possible.”
The Bears recovered one kick on two tries last year. The second was picked up by tight end Ben Braunecker, but he was ruled to have gone out of bounds before touching the ball. The NFL had eight successful regular-season recoveries.
The proposal, pitched by the Eagles, is an extension of experimental rules used at the Pro Bowl. Safety changes to the kickoff rule have made onside kicks less successful — and less exciting.
If the untimed fourth-and-15 play is converted, the team would get to keep the ball. If not, the defending team would get the ball wherever it is downed. Teams would be limited to two such tries during regulation and none during overtime.
Nagy was asked if he’d consider running it in the middle of the game — to steal a possession.
“You could,” he said. “I’d have to study it more. It’s definitely unique, and I like that part about it.’’
QB talk
Nagy, who spoke with several national outlets, reiterated on the show that the Bears won’t begin to decide on their next quarterback until they can actually see them under center.
“We are losing reps right now in the [organized team activities],” he said. “We will have to get them back in training camp. We will have to be creative as to how we do that as a staff. But we will make it work.”
Nagy admitted “the big question” will be how Mitch Trubisky will handle the competition with Nick Foles, for whom the Bears traded a fourth-round pick in March.
“Any person, when that happens, you’re just going to feel like, ‘OK, how do I make this better?’ ” Nagy said. “And for probably a day or two, [Trubisky] was that way. After that and ever since, he’s been really good. And I appreciate that about him.”