In a vote by the owners Tuesday afternoon the NFL owners gave temporary approval for a proposal to make kickoffs safer. The rules will be in place for the 2018 season and will be reviewed next spring based on injury numbers and other factors. This proposal was fast-tracked after research showed concussions were more likely to happen on kickoffs in 2017.
Proposed changes include elimination of running starts on kickoffs for coverage teams, no blocking within the "set-up zone" and elimination of two-man wedge blocks. The NFL suggests if concussion numbers don't improve they were propose more dramatic changes including the elimination of kickoffs in 2019.
The proposal also focuses on ejections, as all ejections will be reviewed to confirm they were the result of flagrant acts. This rule will perhaps allow the NFL the ability to decide which player needs to be ejected following a fight during a game. Earlier last season Jalen Ramsey was ejected after seemingly doing nothing while Bengals receiver A.J. Green put him what seemed like a headlock following a play in their November 5th match up. This play lead to both players being ejected.