NFL’s stance on the Eagles’ Tush Push is to ‘leave it alone’ as the sneak play remains legal in 2024

The Tush Push, for now, is here to stay.

In advance of the NFL’s annual meeting in Orlando next week, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, discussed the sentiment surrounding the push sneak, a play popularized in recent years by the Eagles.

After “lengthy discussion” throughout the season with various committees, including the competition committee and the health and safety committee, Vincent said during a media briefing Thursday that “it was best to say leave it alone” regarding any potential rule-change recommendations focused on the Tush Push for this season.

Last season, the competition committee was split on recommending a rule change. Vincent said that the Tush Push became one of the committee’s “three or four focus core areas” that it monitored this season, meeting to discuss the play and other topics every four to five weeks. Vincent indicated that the overall stance on the play had shifted over the past season.

“There was a consensus that we cleaned some of the things up, officiating up front,” said Vincent, an Eagles Hall of Fame cornerback. “But the play was tried by more teams than we saw in recent years. And that Philly did it well. The Eagles, they executed this particular play well.”

Still, the health and safety committee has some concerns about the play, particularly when it comes to defending it. One technique that is causing some worry, Vincent said, is when a defending player tries to jump over top of the pile in an attempt to stop the ballcarrier.

The committee doesn’t want defending players to be burdened with any “unnecessary risk,” according to Vincent, but that concern is more of a “what if” at this stage.

“There just wasn’t injury data that would give the committee the opportunity to make a decision,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy. “Concern? Sure, as we’ve discussed. But not the kind of injury data that Troy described that the committee would be looking for.”

In 2023, quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense converted or scored on 35 of 42 Tush Push attempts (83.3%), according to Sports Info Solutions. The previous year, the Eagles converted on 29 of 32 attempts (90.6%).

At the NFL meeting, the owners will meet and vote on playing rules, bylaw, and resolution proposals submitted by each team and the competition committee. The Eagles have submitted two playing rules proposals, one bylaw proposal, and one resolution proposal.

However, Atlanta Falcons CEO Rich McKay, the competition committee chairman, said Thursday that the Eagles’ proposed resolution that would require game clocks to show tenths of seconds for the last 60 seconds of each half will end up being withdrawn.