Two of the NFL’s highest-profile cornerbacks are wondering how they’re supposed to make a tackle without lowering their helmets to initiate contact.
After the NFL passed a new rule making it a 15-yard penalty to lower a helmet into an opponent, Washington cornerback Josh Norman and San Francisco cornerback Richard Sherman both expressed frustration that such a rule could pass without the players understanding how it’s supposed to work.
“It’s ridiculous,” Sherman told USA Today. “Like telling a driver if you touch the lane lines, you’re getting a ticket. [It’s] gonna lead to more lower-extremity injuries.”
Norman agreed.
“I don’t know how you’re going to play the game,” he said. “If your helmet comes in contact? How are you going to avoid that if you’re in the trenches and hit a running back, facemask to facemask and accidentally graze the helmet? It’s obviously going to happen. So, I don’t know even what that definition looks like.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell promised today that the league will spend the coming months educating players on how the new rule will be enforced. The league has a lot of work to do, as players are currently in the dark about this new rule that is supposed to protect them from injuries.