New safety rules Interceptions included for defenseless player
By Bill Bradley, contributing editor Editor's note: This is the fifth of five capsules explaining the NFL's new player-safety rules that were pa sed at last week's Annual Meeting. FRIDAY: Expansion of defensele s receiver rule. Who: Wide receivers, tight ends and running backs. When: All pa sing plays. What: Under the rule change, Damaso Garcia Jersey the intended receiver of a pa s in the immediate continuing action following an interception is now protected as a defensele s receiver. If the player is capable of avoiding or warding off the impending contact, he is no longer a defensele s player. Where: It is a foul if a player initiates unnece sary contact against a player who is in a defensele s posture. Previously, the pa ser and the receiver were protected prior to and during the act of catching a pa s. Now, both are protected after an interception. How will be it be enforced: A 15-yard penalty for unnece sary roughne s. Reaction: "It makes sense to carry that receiver. We saw a lot of hits, and he gets defensele s player protection, but in the event that the ball is picked off by a linebacker and the player is hit immediately in the head and neck area by another player, that should be a foul." -- coach Jeff Fisher, who is a member of the NFL Competition Committee. Mike Matheny Jersey