Page 17 - ATD25Febr2016

SPORTS A17
Thursday 25 February 2016

NFL competition REDEMPTION
committee debates
Honda Classic presents strong test
ejections for
personal fouls Rickie Fowler lines up a putt on the 15th
green during the pro-am at the Honda
MICHAEL MAROT Classic golf tournament, Wednesday,
AP Sports Writer Feb. 24, 2016, in Palm Beach Gardens,
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Ste- Fla.
phen Jones believes the Associated Press
NFL will crack down on fla- Page 19
grant personal fouls next
season.
He’s just not sure what it
will take for a player to get
thrown out of a game.
Jones emerged from an
NFL competition commit-
tee meeting Tuesday and
acknowledged he expects
the debate over ejecting
players for multiple per-
sonal fouls to be resolved
as early as next month’s
owners meetings in Boca
Raton, Florida.
The debate is all about the
details.
“I think it’s not really about
how many, it’s what per-
sonal fouls should be in-
cluded,” said Jones, the
Dallas Cowboys’ executive
vice president for player
personnel.
In response, league offi-
cials have implemented
stronger concussion proto-
cols and supported moves
to teach safer tackling
techniques at all levels of
the sport.
The competition commit-
tee, meanwhile, has rec-
ommended a series of
rules changes in recent
years to provide more pro-
tection on the field. Some
of the alterations have
included penalties for hit-
ting defenseless receivers,
restricting the use of the
crown of the helmet by of-
fensive or defensive play-
ers, and eliminating blind-
side blocks, particularly on
punt or kick returns.
New concerns emerged
last December when New
York Giants receiver Odell
Beckham Jr. was called for
three personal fouls during
a loss to the Carolina Pan-
thers.

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