Overview
- Special teams coaches held a conference call Friday to press the NFL for clearer kickoff language after teams used a 12th-player to hold the ball on the ground.
- The Eagles used punter Braden Mann as a 12th-player holder for kicker Jake Elliott to place the ball at an angle that produces a low, hard-to-field ‘dirty ball.’
- The rulebook currently says teams may use a manufactured tee but is ambiguous about whether a holder must place the ball on that tee, creating the loophole teams exploited.
- League sources and coaches say the NFL is likely to amend the rule to require a tee when a designated holder is used, with a midseason change viewed as possible given 2022 precedent.
- If the rule is changed, teams could lose a field-position edge that other clubs may copy and special teams play could shift back toward standardized tee kicks under the 2024 'dynamic' kickoff framework.