Tush push is the hottest topic at the NFL league meetings

NEWS+NOTES

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts lines up for the goal line tush push play during the NFC Championship against the Commanders on Jan. 26 in Philadelphia. CHRIS SZAGOLA – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

Image

Banning the “tush push” is gaining momentum.

Still, it’ll take 24 of 32 votes to eliminate a play that’s become a short-yardage staple for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

NFL team owners, coaches and general managers are considering several potential rule changes at this week’s league meetings. Nothing has garnered more attention than Philadelphia’s version of the quarterback sneak.

The Green Bay Packers issued the proposal to ban it, citing player safety and pace of play.

Although NFL executive Troy Vincent said last month there have been zero injuries reported as a result of the play, Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott, a member of the NFL’s competition committee, is leading the push to get rid of it.

“I feel where I’m most concerned is, even though there is not significant data out there to this point, my biggest concern is the health and safety of the players, first and foremost,” McDermott said on Monday. “It’s two things. It’s force, added force, No. 1, and then the posture of the players, being asked to execute that type of play, that’s where my concern comes in.”

MLB

Braves’ Profar gets an 80-game ban >> Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar has been suspended for 80 games without pay for performance-enhancing drug use.

Major League Baseball announced that Profar tested positive for Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG) in violation of the league’s joint drug prevention and treatment program.

Orioles’ Cowser goes on the IL with a broken thumb >> Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser is expected to miss at least six weeks with a broken left thumb.

Baltimore put Cowser on the 10-day injured list before its home opener against Boston. The Orioles recalled outfielder Dylan Carlson from Triple-A Norfolk.

Cowser wasn’t able to hit in the ninth inning of Sunday’s loss at Toronto after he slid headfirst into first base in the seventh. He finished a close second in last year’s Rookie of the Year vote after hitting 24 home runs.

Civale latest Brewers pitcher to go on IL >> Aaron Civale joined the long list of Milwaukee Brewers pitchers on the injured list.

Civale hurt his hamstring Sunday during the Brewers’ 12-3 loss to the New York Yankees. The 29-year-old right-hander allowed five runs and four hits in three innings.

Civale joins left-handers Aaron Ashby (right oblique), Robert Gasser (left elbow) and DL Hall (left lat) and right-handers Nick Mears (illness), Tobias Myers (left oblique) and Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) on the IL.

NHL

NHL gets 12-year, $7.7B media rights deal in Canada >> The NHL has reached an agreement with Rogers Communications on a 12-year, $7.7 US billion media rights agreement in Canada, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The contract is the latest source of revenue for the league as the salary cap continues to climb. The previous deal reached in November 2013 was worth $5.2 billion CAD over 12 years.