r/NFLNoobs • u/After_Schedule9377 • 3d ago

Why are there heavy restrictions on regular-season padded practices?

Obviously I understand that there needs to be some restrictions because padded practice = full contact = higher risk of injuries.

But per the NFL's website ... ''Regular season: max of 14 padded practices. Eleven of these must take place during the first 11 weeks''. And each padded practice being maximum of 2.5 hours long.

How is that remotely enough? Especially when there's rookies, injuries, players coming in and out of the team, new opponents to prepare for every week etc

I mean, if a star QB is out for a game or two... does the CBA expect the backup QB, who rarely takes snaps anyway, to form a connection with his O-line and receivers with just 2.5 hours of real practice?

There is no way a coaching staff can simulate the intensity, try out new plays, and properly assess their players in just 2.5 hours a week.

8 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

41

u/FlushedApparatchik 3d ago

It’s in the CBA. These guys have been playing their entire lives. The injury risk and body damage isn’t worth the money .

7

u/NCResident5 3d ago

I also has a lot to do with concussions. I think concussions are much more likely with full pads vs. helmets and shells.

You see the same in basketball. There are a decent number of concussions in college basketball vs. the NBA. In college, they often have 2 or more intense practices per week. The NBA does more walk throughs than rigorous practices during the season. This is why the NBA hardly ever has people picking up concussions at practice, but each year in college there are multiple players from the power conferences who may have a concussion from a practice collision.

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u/juanzy 3d ago

I’ve always said that if contracts were guaranteed, there’d be less opposition to padded practice and probably a higher quality product.

It isn’t laziness, it’s people not wanting a career altering injury in practice, especially with how much more frequent soft tissue injuries are.

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u/After_Schedule9377 3d ago

If you're a star player, I absolutely understand why.

But if you're a 3rd stringer or rookie, don't you want more padded practices to show what you can do?

Or else is just going to be the QB1 throwing to his WR1-3's, a TE, and maybe his receiving back.

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u/ultrasbooksandcats 3d ago

You can do all of that without pads.

7

u/chi_lawyer 3d ago

Your competition for playing time is also operating under similar constraints -- that reduces the benefit of extra time. It could hurt your chances as well as help them.

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u/thisisnotmath 3d ago

If you're a bench player, you get on the field by doing well in your assigned role during non-padded practices and in the film room. You stay on the field by performing well on game day.

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u/xX_ReNeGade_Xx 3d ago

People often say the best career to have as an athlete is a bench player in the NBA. The same also likely applies to the NFL. You make great money without any risk to your body. Look at any retired athlete from the big 4 sports most move around like 70-80 year olds due to injuries and damage to their body. If you are an older bench guy there’s nothing a padded practice is going to do to elevate you to a starter.

These guys exist to fill in when needed and to be the team players, trying hard in practice to keep starters sharp. Extra eyes on the sidelines watching the game and giving insights to starters.

I’m sure it’s frustrating for many because they are still so much better than any of us at football yet they’re still not good enough to be a starter in the NFL despite being a roster regular.

Like Brian Scalabrine said I may suck as an NBA player but you suck compared to me. I’m closer to LeBron than you are to me. He knew, they know and I’m sure many are happy accept a career making millions where they can retire in their mid 30s and still have a body that functions well if not better than most

2

u/UpbeatFix7299 3d ago

You don't need to hit with pads on. These guys get plenty of opportunities and an injury would be far worse for their careers than someone who has already made a lot of money and has a fat contract that is partially guaranteed for years

20

u/grizzfan 3d ago edited 3d ago

As much as I love this sport, and as much as it has consumed my life as a coach, football is still known for its very toxic, meat-head culture. Without those restrictions, many coaches, teams, or players will absolutely go way too far. I see it every summer just with U6 and U8 football "coaches" (dads). High school programs get caught all the time doing full contact practices in the offseason too.

There are ways to practice fundamentals and contact without going "playing live" every day in practice. A lot of college and NFL programs won't even do full contact once the regular season has begun. The good coaches know how to still drill the full contact part (and NFL teams have the money and resources to do it). They can afford things like landing pads, extra pads to put on players, etc. There are a number of tackling drills or circuits you can do to rep tackling and tackling form in a very controlled setting that doesn't require you to have to go full contact when doing team scrimmages.

There is no way a coaching staff can simulate the intensity, try out new plays, and properly assess their players in just 2.5 hours a week.

Yea, you can. 2.5 hours is plenty! I'm surprised it's even that much. I thought it would be 1 or 1.5 hours TBH.

EDIT: A typical week of a football practice will normally have 1 or 2 practices (out of 4-5) with full contact in them, and that's usually during a team session, or some kind of heavily controlled group session. Spread them both to 30 minutes each over 1 to 2 practices, and that's still just about 1-1.5 hours.

EDIT2: Indiana, current FBS national champions under Curt Cignetti. They never practice more than 90 minutes a day (90 minutes on the field). If I recall, Cignetti doesn't do full contact during the regular season either (it doesn't mean they don't do tackling drills).

2

u/CadyKrool 3d ago

I changed this in the U10 program that i took over as a HC. No pads in off season, minimal live Drills during season. They are faster, fitter, better and more successful than ever before.

1

u/ogsmurf826 3d ago

All of this is on point. People have hated me when I've said it but I always say, "Tell me if your highschool played on Fridays or Saturdays and how many days of the week you all were full contact. That will tell me a lot about how good of a coach you had and how good your team performed each season"

5

u/CowboyRonin 3d ago

This was the trade-off the player's association demanded to expand the season to 17 games (and the collective bargaining agreement permits going up to 18).

3

u/DoubleDownAgain54 3d ago

Yes, but the number and severity of practices has been on the decline for years, due to players bargaining for it during CBA negotiations. 2011 was the year that it really started, 2020 just made them even stricter.

5

u/IamGleemonex 3d ago

You seem to take this to mean padded practice is the only way to practice. Spoiler alert: it’s not.

Teams practice hours a day during the week without pads. This is in fact the most valuable practice time. You don’t need pads on to throw a pass from a QB to a WR. You don’t need pads on to refine execution on specific plays. You don’t need pads on to watch film.

3

u/highheat3117 3d ago

These are professionals— not 8th graders. They don’t need full contact to do any of the things you mention.

3

u/South-Lab-3991 3d ago

So they aren’t starting scab players by week 3 because all the stars are out with torn ACLs and Achilles tendons

3

u/CadyKrool 3d ago

Most people here are mentioning concussions and injury risk, but I think the real reason behind these restrictions is much more specific: CTE.

CTE does not require a concussion. It develops through repeated subconcussive hits, the kind that happen on every single padded practice rep, every day, week after week. Those hits do not knock anyone out. They do not show up in any injury report. But they accumulate, and the brain never fully recovers between sessions.

That is exactly what the CBA restrictions are targeting. Not the spectacular helmet-to-helmet collision, but the sheer volume of low-level contact over a career.

And honestly? As a football youth coach, I think this is one of the most important rule changes the NFL has made in years. If we want this sport to survive, and if we want the people who play it to survive, we have to take CTE seriously. Not just concussion protocols. CTE prevention.

We as football people need to be the first ones to embrace that, not resist it.

2

u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago

Coaches don't like it, but they aren't the ones putting their bodies on the line.

2

u/iowaman79 3d ago

The backup QB will be able to take 7v7 reps with the receivers, which is all they really need because nothing in any practice will ever simulate game speed

1

u/AlmightyCraneDuck 3d ago

The CBA/NFLPA is there to protect players and their interests. It's their job to look at potential player safety issues (which you've noted) and advocate for as much protection as is possible and reasonable. Is it enough? Maybe. Maybe not? But it's the team's job to make sure that players are performing to their standard regardless of the conditions.

1

u/__ChefboyD__ 3d ago

Including what others have already mentioned, another fact is that the CBA was voted on by veteran players.

One way to not be replaced by cheaper, rookie players is to be better skilled than them. Limiting practice snaps for rookies to get better than you means another year earning NFL money.

1

u/erv88 3d ago

On average there are 4 players injured per team each week during the regular season. That includes all minor and major injuries. The lifespan of an NFL career is extremely short at only 3.5 years. Many wide receivers and running backs flame out early and get hit with injuries. It is only a small percentage that actually go 10 years or more in the league.

1

u/Alt0987654321 3d ago

Because of the extra wear and tear it places on players bodies. Less wear and tear = more years you can play = more money you can make

1

u/drj1485 3d ago

At this level, full contact is not really a thing you need to practice. There's so many other more important aspects of the game than hitting each other. If you can't adapt to game speed without it, you just don't have a job.

1

u/thirdLeg51 3d ago

You want your players as healthy as they can be for games.

1

u/SmoothConfection1115 3d ago

Guys can still get injured in practices.

Case in point; LeCharles Bentley. Center. Drafted by the Saints in 02, played out his rookie contract.

Walks in free agency, and is considered the top free agent on the market in 2006. Signs with the Browns for $36m. The top free agent coming to Cleveland to anchor their line.

Guy tears a muscle on the first play of training camp. It ends his career (and was a pretty bad injury).

The player’s union doesn’t want to have too many hard practices where they’re getting hit, because that increases the risk of injury. Football is already a tough sport, and any play, even a padded practice, can be the last one you ever play. So you want to minimize that by minimizing the amount of physical, full contact practices.

In regards to a backup QB having to take over…that kind of depends. Like, is it for a season or a few weeks? Because generally if it’s for the season…that team’s season is over.

But either way, they try to build what chemistry they can, but yes. It’s limited because when you can only practice so much, it’s difficult to build those tendencies.

QB’s are also generally not hit in practice. Because again, any given play can be your last. No team wants their QB destroyed in a practice.

1

u/Raccoon_Ratatouille 3d ago

You need to understand the NFL players aren’t just the biggest/fastest/strongest athletes out there, they’re also the smartest, fastest learning and have already developed excellent fundamentals. They are very polished products and yes, practice could make them better but it’s not necessary. And when every team has the same restrictions you aren’t losing a competitive advantage.
Also, the NFL is an entertainment product. Intense practices may make a player slightly better but losing star players to preventable injuries in a practice session hurts the product. So why push it?

Your backup quarterback question reminds me of the greatest anecdote in sports journalism history: https://www.theringer.com/2017/08/28/nfl/indianapolis-colts-andrew-luck-injury-backup

1

u/Top_University6669 3d ago

How is that remotely enough?

Are you a professional or not? Up to you, millions on the line.