INDIANAPOLIS — Back on Jan. 2, Patriots coach Bill Belichick wondered if the NFL’s emphasis on player safety would lead to a rule banning players from jumping over the line of scrimmage to block a field goal or extra point, as Shea McClellin did in a December win over the Ravens and attempted to do in the Super Bowl win over the Falcons.
“They’ve really tried to take the extra point out and field goal out,’’ Belichick said. “I mean, it’s hard to block them. We’ll see if they try and put in some kind of rule that you can’t jump up and block it.’’
Sure enough, the competition committee is considering just that as it meets this week here at the NFL Combine, at the request of the NFL Players Association.
“The jumping over on the field goal, I think, is just leading to a really dangerous play for everybody,’’ NFLPA president Eric Winston said via the Washington Post. “If you jump over the center, the jumper is in a really bad spot. He can land on his head. I think the guys that are getting jumped over are going to end up getting hurt, with those guys landing on them. So I’ll be very interested to see what they’ll do there. I think something probably needs to be done.’’
NFL rules currently state that a player is penalized if he lands on an offensive player, but a clean jump over the line of scrimmage is allowed. The tactic has become more frequent in recent years — Jamie Collins also blocked an extra point in this way for the Patriots against the Colts in 2015 — as the NFL has instituted more rules to prevent injuries on field goals.
Most notably, defenders must now line up outside the shoulder of the long snapper, and can’t overload one side of the line of scrimmage — a maximum of six players on each side is allowed.
Speaking on WEEI on Jan. 2 after the Patriots’ Week 17 win over the Dolphins, Belichick lamented how the new rules have made it difficult to block a kick.
“There’s definitely been a movement to minimize the special teams plays and the impact of them,’’ he said. “You can’t get on the center, you can’t line up on the center, you can’t overload, you can’t pull, you can’t jump. Unless it’s a low kick and you have a tall guy in there and he gets his hands up in the right spot, it’s hard to block.
“Look, everybody is for player safety. Everybody is for taking care of the football players. That is what our game is. But it’s a contact sport. I don’t know how you can let them eliminate blocking, tackling. If you want to eliminate kicking, you’re eliminating a big part of the game.’’
The competition committee, consisting of owners, general managers, and head coaches, is reviewing more than 40,000 plays this week to determine the rule changes to recommend at the owners’ annual meeting later this month in Arizona. Any rule change requires the vote of 24 of 32 owners in order to pass.
In addition to the field goal leaping rule, the committee is examining whether to add further protections for defenseless receivers, to eliminate “attack blocks’’ on kickoffs, and whether to relax its touchdown celebration penalties.
Vollmer on the outs
Right tackle Sebastian Vollmer started 80 games over seven seasons and helped the Patriots win a Super Bowl in 2014, but his time with the team is coming to an end soon.
Vollmer, who missed the 2016 season after undergoing shoulder surgery last August, will be released in the coming days, according to several reports.
Vollmer’s contract was supposed to expire after the 2016 season, but it tolled another year, per NFL rules, because he spent the entire season on the physically unable to perform list. He’s on the books for a a $2.25 million salary and salary cap number for 2016, and the Patriots likely will release him before the new league year begins March 9.
Quite an impression
Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia didn’t get the Rams’ or Chargers’ head coaching jobs, but he still impressed those teams in his interviews.
Chargers GM Tom Telesco noted Thursday at the Combine that Patricia drove through a snowstorm to meet the Chargers in Providence during the Patriots’ bye weekend in the playoffs.
“We were appreciative of the fact that he took the time during a busy prep week to meet with us down in Providence. He drove through a snowstorm to come see us, which meant a lot to us,’’ Telesco said. “It was a great conversation. I talked to him on the phone a couple times. We interviewed him. He’s sharp and he’s smart. He knows football. He’s a good person. He’s got a bright, really bright future in this league, in my opinion.’’
Quick turnaround
After sitting courtside at the Celtics-Cavaliers game Wednesday night in Boston — and nearly getting run over by LeBron James underneath the basket — Belichick, along with director of player personnel Nick Caserio, arrived here on Thursday to join their scouts, coaches, and doctors at the Combine, which runs through Monday.
