MINNEAPOLIS -- At the conclusion of the NFL owners meetings in Boca Raton, Florida, last month, an executive approached Minnesota Vikings special-teams coach Mike Priefer to ask him what he thought of the league's new rule bringing touchbacks out to the 25-yard line. Rather than bemoan the change, Priefer told the executive he planned to embrace it -- knowing the alternative would have been far worse.
"I'm glad the league is keeping it in; it's a safer play than most people realize," Priefer said. "Everybody wants to say, 'Oh my God, it's a big, high-collision play.