Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles made several headlines for his comments during the NFL owners meeting in Orlando. Poles addressed the process of trading Justin Fields, ultimately to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also seemed to hint at possible contract extensions for the team?s star wide receiver duo of DJ Moore and Keenan Allen.
While that was happening, though, the NFL also passed a new batch of legislation.
League officials voted on many items on the day, but the one that garnered the most attention among players was the banning of the hip-drop tackle.
Bears’ Jaquan Brisker, DeMarcus Walker Weigh In on NFL Rule Change
Bears Players Speak Out on NFL Rule Change
Jaquan Brisker and DeMarcus Walker shared a clip from 2017 of former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Mitchell lamenting the league?s efforts to restrict the legal target zone on tackles.
They were far from the only ones to repost the clip, with free agent safety Justin Simmons stamping his post with exclamation point emojis for emphasis.
Former NFL stars J.J. Watt, Robert Griffith III, Richard Sherman, and Torrey Smith joined the outcry as well. But this has been something the Bears players have stood on since word first emerged that a change was on the table. And Brisker, a vocal leader in the Bears locker room, has consistently voiced his opposition.
?No such thing as a drop tackle ! Can?t be true, already an offensive league,? he posted on March 20
?They really hate Defense,? Walker exclaimed?in a post on X on March 24.
?Fr though, can we please not ruin this GREAT game of football,? Brisker posted on X on March 20.
New Bears safety Kevin Byard also weighed in before the rule was changed.
?It?s so hard to play defense in the league,? Byard posted on March 20. ?And what makes this worse, a 15 yard penalty is more than likely gonna be a personal foul so they?re definitely gonna be fine guys for this.?
Kenyan Drake Backs NFL’s Rule Change
Not everyone around the league is against the change. Veteran running back Kenyan Drake praising the NFL?s action on the matter. He included a clip of a play in which he suffered a devastating ankle injury as a result of the tackle. Drake had originally shared the clip in 2021, underscoring just how seriously he views the issue to be.
?the league finally got it right,? Drake said in a post on March 25. ?hip drop tackles have been detrimental to the health of runners including myself and i for one appreciate the decision to make it a priority for the safety of ball carries.
?i don?t care about popular opinion,? Drake said. ?i lost my right ankle and a quarter of the ?21 season to this type of tackle. something had to give and im glad it?s not anybody legs/ankles anymore.?
NFL Admits ?Concern? About Dip in Scoring
The NFL, which has been aggressive with its safety measures in recent years, has other motivations for making the change.
?Statistically, what gives us concern a little bit is scoring,? Competition Committee chairman Rich McKay said, per Pro Football Talk?s Mike Florio on March 24. ?Scoring this year at 43.5 is still above an historical marker, which has kind of been that 43 mark. But we were at 49 points per game during COVID [in 2020], and we went to 45 [in 2021], we went to 43.76 [in 2022], and now we?re down to 43.54.?
Notably, the NFL also instituted a slew of rule changes in 2020, though most addressed roster size amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The health and safety of players is undoubtedly at the forefront of the discussion. No one benefits from having injuries occur, especially during the game. But there will likely be an uptick in scoring as defenders adjust to the new rules, at least temporarily. So the change could have a two-birds, one-stone type of impact.
