The NFL set out to do two things with its new kickoff rules this season — create added excitement and keep the players from getting hurt.
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The league said in a statement that it has already accomplished both, and quite frankly, the fans are loving it. The players are probably loving it, too, given that they've been able to largely escape kickoffs injury-free.
"The injury rate dropped dramatically," NFL Executive V.P. for health and safety Jeff Miller said. "The average player speed on the dynamic kickoff was about 20 percent slower than the kickoff in the previous year . . . That led to a decreased injury rate."
It seems most of these findings are based on the preseason and not necessarily the first four weeks of the regular season. The news has been great when it comes to a lack of MCL or ACL injuries — though not quite as great as concussions.
"We saw a couple more concussions on the dynamic kickoff than we thought we would see," Miller said. "In the regular season we haven't seen any concussions in the first three weeks of the dynamic kickoff in the regular season."
