I think it's nuts, too. We'll see, I guess. BB had some interesting comments on it. Sounds to me like coaches don't like it.
From
http://www.patriots.com/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=audionewsdetail&pid=20273&pcid=44
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Q: How will you coach the down by contact rule now with the changes? Will they have to play past the whistle?
BB: You can't really play to the whistle any more. You have to play to the ball, because the whistle really might not be the end of the play. I think in this particular rule, we're kind of going into an area that we haven't gone into. The old adage of 'play to the whistle' might not be good enough any more. I think that leads into some other questions, particularly with player safety, or some guys are playing beyond the whistle and other guys may not be. Some guys may see the ball if it's loose, other guys may hear the whistle and not see the ball. I'm not sure that everybody is reacting to the same thing. Again, this isn't a rule we made. But we have to try to understand it and play it as it is going to be interpreted and officiated. I'm not sure exactly what that is, because in all honesty, we've never had this before. We're going into an area we've never gone into before. I think that there may be some adjustments or growing pains, or having to come to an understanding of how it's going to go.
Q: So, this has the potential to affect turnovers?
BB: Definitely. There are obvious plays, that okay, they're probably pretty clean. But I think that there are going to be some a lot of other gray area plays where it's not as clear-cut and then we'll have to see how those get handled. I don't know. I didn't do all the research on the rules so I'm not an expert on it, but there are a lot of concerns that were brought up on the rule that is proposed and I think there are a lot of issues that need to be resolved.
Q: Say a guy plays to the whistle and a penalty is committed during that time...
BB: You're asking all the same questions that were asked when we had the discussions at the league meetings relative to that type of situation. You're asking all the same questions that were asked.
Q: Did they basically say, 'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it?'
BB: You let them answer the questions. I don't have all the answers. Other people do, so they should probably give them to you. There are a lot of points there that because the play doesn't end at the whistle like it traditionally always has, I don't know when it ends. When the ball is finally recovered I guess is when it ends, but again who knows when that is? You have a pile and who can see it being recovered and who can't? Where going into an area that we just haven't been in before, so I think that brings up a lot of question. I don't know if any of us can say exactly what is going to happen because none of us really have any experience with it. That is what the league decided to do and that is what the competition committee recommended, so that is what we are. So we'll see what happens.
