<
>

What NFL coaches and players are saying about CFL eliminating padded practices

play
Will NFL eliminate full-contact practices? (2:29)

With the news of the CFL getting rid of full-contact practices, Michael Smith and Jemele Hill question if this is the direction the NFL will eventually go. (2:29)

The Canadian Football League eliminated pads from all regular-season practices Wednesday, a policy that began immediately.

Will the CFL’s decision impact the NFL’s current collective bargaining agreement, which limits padded practices to 14 during the regular season, 11 of which must come in the first 11 weeks of the season?

Asked if the NFL would consider a policy similar to that of the CFL, via a negotiation with the NFL Players Association, a league spokesman said: "We are eager to discuss with the union at the earliest possible time health and safety matters and all other issues covered by the CBA."

Here’s how NFL players and coaches reacted to the CFL’s decision:

“That’s the Canadian Football League. This is real, live NFL. It’s not going to happen. I don’t know if that’s something that we want to do anyway. I’m big on putting the pads on here and there and actually feeling another person as far as hitting and things like that throughout the week. I can’t really agree with the no pads. Probably when it gets later within the year taking them off is pretty good.”

-- Jacksonville Jaguars WR Marqise Lee


“In order to play our game, which is a little different than the CFL game ... I think you’re more at risk if you don’t practice some of the things you need to than not at risk.”

-- New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, who added that the Saints never have used their full allotment of 14 padded practices in-season since the new CBA began in 2011.


“It seems like maybe that’s the direction that the game is going, to take some of that pounding off guys. There could be a benefit now that I think about it. For a lineman especially, the guys that take that head pounding every single day or even once a week. Just cutting that back could be a big benefit, give your brain an extra day of rest during the season.”

-- Cleveland Browns OT Joe Thomas.


“I don’t know exactly when it was, but I’ve been doing this for a long time, and we’ve just done it [practicing without pads and helmets] more extensively in the last couple years because our guys bought into how to do it. You still have to practice with great speed and all that, and they have to cooperate with one another, and we did it throughout our entire offseasons as well, and we’re just trying to learn and see what you can get done and how far you can take it, and I’ve not been dissatisfied with the way that it turned out."

-- Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll.


“I know the health issues involved and everything, but if you want to play this game and play it physical, you have to practice that.”

-- Jacksonville LB Paul Posluszny.


“I think the game is safer than it’s ever been because of the rule changes that the NFL and now the CFL has made. I think that's good for everybody. But it's a great game and being physical is a part of this game, and we believe you have to practice that. You practice that in training camp, and when we get a chance to do that during the week, we try to take full advantage of it.”

-- Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.


“I don’t know why they did that, but I mean, I just don’t see it happening here. We need padded practices. We need that to stay low, and certain schemes and defenses just need it. I mean, I don’t see coaches and owners letting that happen here.”

-- Dallas Cowboys DT Tyrone Crawford, who grew up in Windsor, Ontario.


“I’m not quite sure where that fits in the NFL because I do think there is a need to have some type of physical contact to prepare yourself. So we’ll continue to look at it. But as a football player, you want to have pads off, but at the same time, there’s a fine line where you need to be prepared for the game, make sure you have good pad level. Smart coaches understand their team.”

-- Buffalo Bills OLB Lorenzo Alexander, member of NFLPA executive committee.


“Chuck [Noll] would have a problem with that.”

-- Tennessee Titans coach and former Steelers TE Mike Mularkey on how former Steelers coach and four-time Super Bowl winner Chuck Noll would feel if NFL adopted CFL rule of no padded practices.


“Two of my friends play over there and I told them, ‘You’re pretty lucky you don’t have any more padded practices.’ But it’s different. It’s not many times we tackle live in practice anyway, just because of the risk of injury and all of that stuff. I don’t know; I think it’s tough overall, as a football team, to get better without any ... you go full pads all the way into the end of training camp and then for the rest of the year you’re only full pads once a week on game day. I think that’s a little tough as a football player to be able to do. I guess they’ll test it, study it, and see, but I don’t see that coming any time soon for us here. But who knows, if it extends their career, I’m all for it.”

-- Patriots safety Devin McCourty