By JOSH DUBOW SANTA CLARA, Calif. As a player who solidified his place in the NFL as a special teams standout with his skill covering kicks and blocking for returns, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Oren Burks has a keen interest in the preseason. With a new rule on kickoffs giving return teams the ball at the […]
By JOSH DUBOW SANTA CLARA, Calif. As a player who solidified his place in the NFL as a special teams standout with his skill covering kicks and blocking for returns, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Oren Burks has a keen interest in the preseason. With a new rule on kickoffs giving return teams the ball at the 25 after fair catches in the field of play, Burks is waiting to see how often teams utilize the option and how often kicking teams try to prevent it with squib kicks. “I’m sure the preseason will be a time for coordinators to kind of […]
NFL preseason could be a good test of how teams approach the league s new kickoff rule apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As a player who solidified his place in the NFL as a special teams standout with his skill covering kicks and blocking for returns, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Oren Burks has a keen interest in the preseason. With a new rule on kickoffs giving return teams the ball at the 25 after fair catches in the field of play, Burks is waiting to see how often teams utilize the option and how often kicking teams try to prevent it with squib kicks. “I’m sure the preseason will be a time for coordinators to kind of play with the rules and see what works and what doesn’t,” Burks said.
Special teams coaches and standout players weren t happy when the NFL changed the kickoff rules this offseason to allow fair catch touchbacks in the field of play. The rule was put in place to cut …