This story originally appeared in the Globe’s Sunday Football Notes. Read the rest here.
The NFL has implemented new rules governing training camp practices to prevent injuries — strict guidelines on how often teams can practice and can wear full pads. In that light, the league considers the rules a success; NFL spokesman Jeff Miller said the rate of lower-extremity injuries such as ACL tears and ankle sprains in training camp practices have decreased significantly. The injury rate in joint practices also is “much lower” than it is in preseason games, “and that seems to be a really good way to get players ready for the regular season.”
But not everyone in the NFL agrees with that last point. NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent said that about 40 percent of NFL starters didn’t play a snap in the preseason — the Patriots were one of many teams to sit their starters for all three games — and he believes it led to an increase in penalties and sloppy play over the first month of the season. The 1,398 penalties called through Week 6 are the second most in NFL history.
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“We do see a little bit of the inconsistencies, higher foul counts, those first 3-4 weeks,” Vincent said Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting in New York. “Coach [Don] Shula always talked about developing the callus. I truly believe to be a good tackler, you have to tackle, and not just at practice.”
A few other notes from the owners meetings:
⋅ The NFL proceeded with Sunday’s Saints-Steelers game in Paris despite the wave of protests taking over the city. An event at the Steelers Fan House was canceled.
⋅ Get ready for more international games. This year has nine on the schedule, but the collective bargaining agreement allows for 10, and the NFL will try to get there next year, NFL executive vice president Peter O’Reilly said.
⋅ Roger Goodell considers the Week 1 game in Australia a “tremendous success on really every level.”
“To get 100,000 people on a Friday morning at 10:30 is pretty remarkable,” he said of the crowd at Melbourne Cricket Ground. “I’ve never seen a region or a country that has more passion for sports.”
⋅ Mike Vrabel, Aaron Glenn, and Nick Sirianni were fined $250,000 each by the NFL recently for conduct toward officials, but the fines are on hold and can be rescinded with good behavior, so it’s more like a warning.
⋅ The owners approved a sale of 7.5 percent of the Falcons to private equity firm Arctos, with the firm committed to a future purchase of an additional 2.5 percent pending another approval vote. The total sale will raise about $1 billion in cash for Arthur Blank. Arctos now owns stakes in the Falcons, Browns, Chargers, and Bills.