What NFL coaches are saying about the ‘tush push’ as league vote approaches

Sports

add

NFL team personnel will vote on a series of rule changes at the annual league meetings this week in Palm Beach, Fla., and the future of the “tush push” will finally be decided.

The Green Bay Packers proposed the league ban the “tush push,” a play in which the quarterback generally takes the snap under center and dives forward while being pushed from behind by his teammates. Also called the “Brotherly Shove,” the play has been predominantly used by the Philadelphia Eagles in short-yardage situations, though several teams run differing variations of it.

In specific language, the Packers’ proposal looks “to prohibit any offensive player from pushing a teammate who was lined up directly behind the snapper and receives the snap, immediately at the snap.” Player safety is among the top arguments against the “tush push,” though data linking injuries to the play is not necessarily clear.

“Really wasn’t a huge part of drafting the proposal or anything like that, but I’m very much in support of it,” said Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. “I think certainly the medical professionals at the league have high concerns about putting players in positions that could lead to catastrophic injuries. I think this is something that needs to be discussed and we need to be proactive with it rather than be reactive on that.

“I think we owe it to our players. It’s not about success. It’s about safety here.”

To become official, 24 of the 32 NFL voters need to vote to ban the “tush push,” and as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported last week, momentum is building in that direction.

Here’s what NFL coaches are saying about the “tush push” as the vote approaches Tuesday morning.

This story will be updated as more coaches speak at league meetings. AFC coaches met with reporters on Monday. NFC coaches will meet with reporters on Tuesday. 

AFC East

Bills coach Sean McDermott

“My biggest concern is the health and safety of the players, first and foremost. It’s added force and then the posture of the players being asked to execute that type of play. That’s where my concern comes in,” said McDermott, who is part of the NFL’s competition committee which reviews rule proposals and will present supporting statistics to the voters.

“That’s not a healthy posture, to me. Then, when you add force to that posture, that’s concerning for me as to the health and safety of the players. … To me, (the Green Bay proposal) takes away the force. Traditional quarterback sneaks have been around for a long time. That’s the context of it that’s important. Then the pushing adds the force piece, and it exponentially raises my concern.”

On if he will continue to run the “tush push,” McDermott said: “I believe both teams (Buffalo and Philadelphia) can be just as good in a traditional form of a quarterback sneak, and both teams have shown that. … It’s a loose term as to what defines a ‘tush push.’ There are different forms out there. I know we are one of the teams people identify that runs it; that’s fair. But we’re always going to act in a way that’s best for the health and safety of the players, and I think that’s the responsibility of all of us.”

Jets coach Aaron Glenn

“They’ve done a good job of creating a play that’s unstoppable. In my defensive coaching mentality, my job is to stop that play. Our job is to stop that play. I’ll answer it that way.”

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel

“What I think we should not do and be careful of is there are a lot of different plays that you have to defend that the offense does well, and that particular play you have to defend it. It’s also tough to defend Lamar Jackson when he runs the ball. So I’m all in favor of getting rid of those plays that are tough to defend, but, you know, we just try to focus on what the rules are and try to use them to our advantage.”

AFC South

Colts coach Shane Steichen

“I’m not in favor of taking it out. I think it’s good for the game,” said Steichen, who was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator from 2021-22.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans

“It’s tough to punish a team for being really good at something.”

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans on attempts to ban Eagles tush push/Brotherly Shove: “It’s tough to punish a team for being really good at something.” pic.twitter.com/HBOqDs7WW0

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) March 31, 2025

AFC North

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski

“Yeah, I don’t know that it’s something that needs to be legislated out of the game. The injury data’s not there. So I would be in favor of keeping the rules as they are. You’re welcome, Coach Sirianni.”

“Yeah, I don’t know that it’s something that needs to be legislated out of the game. The injury data’s not there. So I would be in favor of keeping the rules as they are. You’re welcome, Coach Sirianni.”

— Browns HC Kevin Stefanski https://t.co/Glq2SYaWr7

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) March 31, 2025

Ravens coach John Harbaugh

“We don’t do it with Lamar. That’s not something that we do. I feel like it’s a football play. If it’s determined that it’s an injury risk play, which I think is what the doctors are concerned about right now, then that’s something that we have to address. If we don’t, if we don’t think it’s an injury risk play, then it’s just a play in football. I’m looking forward to the discussion. We really haven’t decided our position on that yet. I kind of want to hear some more conversation.”

“If you want to be more consistent, just take all of those kind of pushing situations out of the game. Downfield or wherever they are. You can’t push the quarterback, maybe we shouldn’t be able to push the guards either. We can’t push the defensive linemen on field-goal rush, why are we pushing the guards? If you want to make that a rule, I think it might make sense to make it comprehensive, but right now, it’s pretty narrowly written. We’ll have to see what happens.”

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin

“The first time I saw it, I couldn’t believe that it was legal because it was illegal on the field goal. That being said, you hate to be against it, because when people are innovative, you want to respect that. There have certainly been some teams that have been more innovative than the rest of us in that regard, and we hate to penalize them for it. But again, we got into the discussion on the field goal block because of player safety, and so that still remains to be a component of the discussion.”

“I, and everyone else, we’re just listening to the perspective of the medical experts, as opposed to statistics, because it’s just not a large enough sample size in terms of the number of times the play has been executed, whether it’s 2024, or just in general. A lot of other plays, we have a much larger volume to choose from — 40,000 plays a year in football. I think it was 170 or so tush pushes.”

AFC West

Chiefs coach Andy Reid

“There’s a whole medical side to it. I give (the Eagles) credit because they’ve done a heck of a job with it. It’s a tough play to stop. But then you’re listening to the medical side and you probably can go either way with it. If it’s putting a player in a bad position, then you probably have to do something about it. But if it’s not, I think it’s a heck of a play.”

Required reading

(Photo: Al Bello / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

From tractor pulls to Donald Trump, Nebraska put all options on the table when reformatting spring game

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Chad Johnson encourages Jerry Jones to sign Mahomes’ former partner

Agency_SAM