INDIANAPOLIS >> The NFL is considering changing overtime rules in the regular season to decrease the advantage for teams that win the coin toss.

“It’s time to rethink the overtime rule,” league executive Troy Vincent said Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine.

Vincent said the competition committee agrees overtime rules need to be addressed. Receiving the ball first has become more of an advantage than before 2011, when overtime was sudden death. Receiving teams won 56.8% of overtime games from 2017-24, up from 55.4% from 2001-11.

Both teams currently get an opportunity to possess the ball in overtime unless a touchdown is scored on the first possession.

The rules are different in the playoffs. Both teams get a chance to have a possession even if the offense scores a touchdown on the opening drive. That postseason change came after Buffalo’s loss to Kansas City in a divisional-round game in January 2022.

Making the overtime rules the same in the regular season is a possible solution, along with extending the period to 15 minutes.

Among other changes, the NFL plans to use its virtual measuring system to determine first downs in 2025. This wouldn’t eliminate the officials who manually spot the ball and use chains to mark the line to gain. The optimal tracking system notifies officiating instantly if a first down was gained after the ball is spotted by hand.

Ravens’ Tucker releases new statement>> Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker has released a new statement maintaining that he did not act inappropriately while receiving professional bodywork treatment. He also offered an apology.

“It devastates me to know that anyone I have worked with would not have felt respected and valued as a professional, but more importantly as a person, and to anyone who has felt otherwise, I am sorry,” Tucker said in a statement provided by a publicist. “I want you to know I am committed to ensuring that everyone I interact with continues to feel that I respect them and care about them as a human being.”

The Baltimore Banner has reported that 16 massage therapists from eight spas and wellness centers in the Baltimore area have accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior. Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta called the allegations “serious” and “concerning” this week, and the NFL is investigating.

49ers have started contract talks with Purdy>> San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch said the team has begun negotiations with quarterback Brock Purdy about a long-term contract and believes both sides want to get a deal done.

Purdy’s contract extension is one of the main items on the offseason to-do list for San Francisco. He is nearing the end of one of the NFL’s biggest bargains for the 49ers, with one year left on the rookie deal he signed as the last pick of the 2022 draft.

Purdy has made less than $1 million a year for his first three seasons and is set to get a small raise in 2025 to about $5.2 million under the league’s proven performance escalator for making the Pro Bowl last season.

But Purdy’s play has far exceeded that salary and he is now eligible to negotiate an extension for the first time and could be in line for a contract that will pay him in excess of $50 million a year.

Cardinals to invest $100 million into new practice facility>> The Arizona Cardinals say they are planning to invest roughly $100 million to build a new training facility at the team’s current location, following low marks for facilities in the yearly NFL Players Association survey that was released on Wednesday.

The Cardinals finished 32nd overall out of 32 teams in this year’s report, with players giving the team a D+ grade for treatment of families, a D- for the food and dining area, an F- for the locker room and a D- for the training room.