ASHBURN — The NFL also made significant rule changes besides expanding celebrations on Tuesday, and that was news apparently to Redskins coach Jay Gruden.
Gruden was told overtime was shortened to 10 minutes instead of 15.
“Who cares?” Gruden said, prompting laughter.
But there was a rule that did peak Gruden’s interest. Teams are now allowed to designate two players to return from injured reserve (IR) instead of one. The old rule directly affected the Redskins in the past.
In 2015, linebacker Martrell Spaight was diagnosed with a concussion and the Redskins had to placed him on IR because they needed an extra roster spot at the time. Running back Keith Marshall was also placed on IR in 2016 because of an elbow injury, but didn’t return because the Redskins activated Kory Lichtensteiger instead.
“Oh that’s a good rule,” Gruden said. “These IR rules are tough, man. These players, it’s hard, especially when you have a lot of guys with nagging injuries that aren’t able to play on Sunday, but they’re not hurt enough to go on IR. You need a little bit of flexibility there. It’s been very, very important.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.