Eagles coach Nick Sirianni pushes back against proposal to ban the tush push

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Eagles coach Nick Sirianni pushed back against the Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban the tush push.

“I’ve seen some of the stuff that it’s an automatic play,” Sirianni said Tuesday at the NFL’s scouting combine. ”I almost feel a little insulted because we work so hard at that play. The amount of things that we’ve looked into, how to coach that play, the fundamentals. … I can’t tell you how many times we practice the snap. We practice the play because it’s not a play that was easy to practice in different ways. We figured out how to practice it.

“We work really, really hard and our guys are talented at this play. And so it’s insulting to say because we’re good at it, so it’s automatic.”

Philadelphia has used the play successfully behind Jalen Hurts for the past three seasons in short-yardage situations, including during a 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed Tuesday the team had submitted a proposal to ban the play, which is a modified quarterback sneak where two or three teammates line up behind Hurts and push him forward to help him try to gain the yardage necessary for a first down or touchdown.

“We really haven’t had very many discussions about it,” Gutekunst said. “I’m sure we will over the next few weeks as we head into the owner’s meetings. So I’m aware that we did, but really haven’t had many discussions about it.”

The Eagles beat the Packers 22-10 in a wild-card playoff game on their way to capturing the franchise’s second Super Bowl title.

The NFL Competition Committee will review the proposal and NFL owners could vote on it when they meet next month in Florida. The play had been discussed previously but there was never a formal proposal to eliminate it.

Several other teams have copied Philadelphia’s use of the play, including the Buffalo Bills. Pushing Josh Allen in short-yardage situations has worked out for Buffalo except on a critical fourth down in the AFC championship game against Kansas City when there was also a controversial spot on the play.

“(The Bills) failed at it and ultimately didn’t end up winning the game because of it,” Sirianni said. “Every week I watch every first-and-goal, red zone fail. And sometimes that first-and-goal starts at the 1, and you see the team not be able to get in because they’re not able to do that. And so I think that it’s a skill that our team has because of the players that we have and the way the coaches coach that. The fact that it’s a successful play for the Eagles, and you want to take that away, I think it’s a little unfair.”

Perhaps no example summed up how much the play can be a challenge for defenses quite like when Philadelphia used it against Washington in the NFC championship game. The Commanders jumped offside four times in a sequence of five plays while trying to stop the tush push — earning them a warning from the referee that he could award the Eagles a touchdown if the Commanders did it again.

The Packers have struggled to both stop and convert on the play.

“I know we’re not very successful against it,” Gutekunst said. “I know that. But to be honest, I have not put much thought into it. It’s been around for a while. We’ve used it in different fashions with our tight end, so, again, I think there will be a lot of discussions about it. I’ve kind of got to look at some of the information as far as injury rates, things like that to see. But we’ll see.”

Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy called the tush push “bad for the game” in a message posted on the team’s website after the Packers were eliminated by the Eagles in the playoffs.

“There is no skill involved and it is almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less,” Murphy wrote. “I would like to see the league prohibit pushing or aiding the run.”

Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Tuesday he wouldn’t mind seeing it go away.

“I’ve never been a fan,” Morris said. “Never understood why it was allowed. I definitely will be one of the guys voting against it.”

But Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, who is on the NFL Competition Committee, said he doesn’t believe the tush push should be banned. Bowles said teams have to learn how to stop it rather than having the league take it out of the game.

Bills coach Sean McDermott, who also is a member of the competition committee, on Monday mentioned player safety concerns.

“The way that the techniques that are used with the play, to me, have been potentially contrary to the health and safety of the players,” McDermott said “You have to go back through, in fairness, to the injury data on the play, but I just think the optics of it I’m not in love with.”

Sirianni disagreed with injuries being a factor.

“I think that’s a little made up,” he said. “I can’t remember one injury we had on that play and we ran it more than anybody else.”

McDermott didn’t say whether he favored a rule change. Ravens coach John Harbaugh has no problem with it.

“To me, it’s OK. You’ve got take all those rules holistically,” Harbaugh said. “So what does one rule change have on the next one. So if you’re going to take out the tush push then you’ve got to take out all pushes. So I guy can’t be downfield and an offensive lineman can run in and push the ball carrier 5 more yards.

“You can’t take one out and not the other. They’re doing the same. Just like you’re not supposed to be able to grab a running back and pull him into the end zone. That hasn’t been officiated. They’ve allowed that to happen. How you going to officiate that? So if you say if you can’t help push a back, then you can take out the tush push. If you’re going to say that’s still allowed, then in my opinion, I don’t think you can take out the tush push.”

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AP Sports Writers Michael Marot and Steve Megargee contributed to this report.

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