NFL Rules 2023: Explained

Before suggesting modifications to any NFL rule, the NFL Competition Committee consults with coaches, general managers, owners, current players, NFL Legends, the NFL Players Association, medical professionals, the media, and conducts weeks of debate and film analysis.

The Committee probes each prospective rule change with a number of inquiries during this process, including:

Does the modification make the game better?
In what way will it be conducted?
In what way will it be trained?
Can the player use the rule on the field?
Does the modification make players better protected?

Teams can now carry a third quarterback on the active roster without taking up an additional roster space, which has come to be known as the “Brock Purdy rule,” albeit the quarterback cannot actually participate in the game until the first two quarterbacks are hurt.

This is what happened when Purdy tore his UCL during the conference championship defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles. Purdy was replaced by backup quarterback Josh Johnson, who then suffered a concussion, forcing an ineffective Purdy to come back.

It’s ironic that the new regulation wasn’t suggested by the Niners. The Detroit Lions were involved.

For the 2023 NFL season, the NFL will implement a number of new regulations, including as allowing some players to wear jersey No. 0 and enabling clubs to carry an emergency third quarterback without needing a place on the game-day roster for that quarterback.

This season, Thursday Night Football schedule will be more flexible in the league, as receiving teams will now get the ball from their own 25-yard line after a fair catch on a kickoff.

Fans will likely notice some of those changes this year, but they by no means are the only ones.

NFL Rules 2023: Explained

Instant replay reversal

New for 2023, when an instant replay decision results in a reversal under 2:00, the play clock will be reset to :40 instead of :25; unless another rule requires otherwise, such as when there is also a :10 runoff, in which case the play clock will be reset to :30.

Additionally, inside 2:00, reversing from a ruling with a stopped clock to one with a running clock requires either a :10 second runoff or a charged team timeout.

Fair-catch rule on kickoffs

The ball will be put at the 25-yard line after a kickoff if a kick-return specialist initiates a fair-catch signal from any location in the end zone up to that point.

It will stop fair receptions from being pressed against the goal line and deep inside the zone of the receiving team—basically, it’s a touchback.

Failed fourth-down conversions

Now, all unsuccessful fourth-down conversion attempts will result in an automatic booth review, much like other turnover circumstances. The challenge of a missed fourth-down conversion is forbidden for head coaches.

A coach must still challenge a successful fourth-down convert unless it happens during the two-minute warning or overtime.

Players can now wear No. 0

A player could not wear a jersey with the number 0 in the past. However, zero has long been accepted as a jersey number in college football, and the NFL has now followed suit.

Use of helmet

The following guidelines are for applying the Use of Helmet rule:

Bringing the head down (without preparing for collision)

initiating physical contact with the opponent’s body while wearing the helmet. Lowering the head and making contact with an opponent’s torso, hips, or lower body is also prohibited. Contact to the opponent’s head or neck is not required.

Flex scheduling for Thursday Night Football

Since every club, no matter how talented or awful, was scheduled to play at least one of these games on a short week, many of the Thursday Night Football matchups from last season were utterly pointless.

The NFL may now change the schedule of Thursday night games if required.

This season, the 49ers have already played twice on Thursday Night Football, once against the New York Giants in Week 3 and once against the Seattle Seahawks on Thanksgiving.

In a season, teams are limited to two Thursday night games, at least one of which must be played at home.

Tripping

Tripping will now result in a personal foul, a 15-yard penalty, and further punishment whether or not it is flagged on the field by officials as of 2023.

What does trip mean? the act of impeding an opponent (especially a runner) with one’s leg or foot.

Read-option handoffs

The quarterback must pass the ball to a runner who is either parallel to him or behind him for any handoff on a read-option play.

Anything in front of the quarterback will be considered a forward pass and punished with a 5 yard penalty.

Change to the definition of “a launch”

To be considered a launch and a personal foul, a hit must now be attempted with no more than one foot off the ground. Previously, a player’s effort to make a hit had to involve both of their feet leaving the ground for that hit to qualify as a launch.

Change made to a postseason tiebreaker

Strength of win will now be used as the second tiebreaker after head-to-head record to decide playoff placement in place of conference record.

Preseason roster cutdown change

Each NFL club will now be obligated to maintain 90 players on its roster for the whole of the preseason before cutting that number to 53 by Tuesday, August 29. This replaces the previous practice of making repeated cuts throughout the preseason.

Every year, the NFL makes modifications to its rules, and this offseason was no exception. Several amendments were made to the league’s rulebook. Now, a portion of the next training camp and preseason for the Minnesota Vikings and the other 31 NFL clubs will be devoted to learning these new regulations and making sure they are correctly adjusted before the start of the regular season.

 

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