The National Football League and the NFL Players Association released a joint statement on Wednesday about player health and safety violations.
The statement said the league will put a “greater emphasis” on five fouls in the category. They are hip drop tackles, horse collar tackles, launching, hits on defenseless players and blindside blocks.
The statement says players who commit three violations of those rules over the course of the season will be suspended for one game. They also announced that clubs with excessive numbers of healthy nd safety violations will be subject to fines and that coaches will be required to join players in meetings with the NFL if those players are nearing the suspension mark.
If a player is fined for one violation during the season and avoids any further fouls, they will receive 50 percent of their fine back at the end of the season.
The NFL and NFLPA also announced that former Panthers and Commanders head coach Ron Rivera will join the pool of former players who will hear appeals of discipline for player health and safety violations.
