Key Safety Issues In Play As NFL, NFLPA Reps Meet Around Combine

The NFL scouting combine begins tonight at Lucas Oil Stadium, but meetings between league and NFLPA officials in Indianapolis today "will shape the NFL far more immediately." The annual gathering "will focus on whether to eliminate some of the low blocks that risk injury to the legs of defensive players, suggestions for further adjusting kickoff rules and the league’s decision to have independent neurologists on the sideline to consult on head injuries" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/20).

NFL Network for its on-site coverage of the combine will "do everything but mike any of the 333 players expected to attend." NFL Network Senior Coordinating Producer Mike Muriano: "They don't want anything to possibly alter their performance. But our camera mics get up-close sounds. That's particularly good with the bench-press tests" (USA TODAY, 2/20).