As Black Bart once said, “OK, Ralphie. You win this time, but we’ll be back.”
The anti-tush push forces inevitably will return with another effort to remove the Eagles’ signature play from the rulebook.
Wednesday’s effort failed, by only two votes. With 24 required, the final tally was 22-10.
Multiple reports indicated that the Ravens, Patriots, Jets, and Lions were among the 10 “nay” votes. We’re told that the Titans, Jaguars, and Browns also were opposed to the proposal. Throw in the Eagles, and that’s eight of the 10.
The vote ends the matter for 2025. It undoubtedly will be back, as soon as next March. Especially if/when the anti-tush push forces can bring evidence to the table tangible evidence (real or imagined) of a safety risk.
Until the play is eliminated, all teams other than the Eagles have two ways of dealing with the situation: (1) figure out how to stop it; and/or (2) figure out how to run it.
The third strategy is to create the kind of spectacle that results in the same ugliness that happened in the NFC Championship — and which seemed to light the fuse for the league’s failed effort to dump the play.
The Titans are set to have a new look on offense after drafting quarterback Cam Ward with the first overall pick, but that’s not the only change that head coach Brian Callahan has in mind.
Running back Tony Pollard had a career-high 260 carries during his first season with the team and Callahan said on Tuesday that he thinks that Pollard “was battling the second half of the year quite a bit.” Callahan said he plabns to find more ways to work Tyjae Spears, Julius Chestnut, and sixth-round pick Kalel Mullings into the mix this fall.
“I think in a perfect world, it’s a healthier division of labor,” Callahan said, via the team’s website. “I think he ended up carrying the ball a lot. He was our most productive running back. And then Tyjae had some injuries early, too. So, he ended up playing a lot early and then Tyjae sort of came on as the year went on further. So, I like really both of those players a lot. I think we can do a better job of managing that load so they both play a little more evenly and allows us to maybe have a spot for a third back between Julius and Kalel, some heavier style back and runner. So hopefully that division of labor gets a little more evenly distributed so he doesn’t have to take the brunt of it. And we can get 17 games out of all those guys at their best.”
Pollard also spoke to reporters on Tuesday and said he was over the ankle issues that troubled him late last season. He called the idea of divvying up the workload “ideal” and said he is onboard for “whatever way we can contribute to the success of the team.”
Titans cornerback L’Jarius Sneed was able to play just five games for the Titans last season, sidelined by a quad injury that required surgery.
But Sneed is on the mend, which head coach Brian Callahan discussed during his Tuesday press conference.
“He’s coming back injury-wise,” Callahan said, via Jim Wyatt of the team’s website. “So, the rehab process is ongoing. He’s in a good spot, excited about where he’s at. But there’s definitely a part of, I’d like to practice more. I think he’s on the same page, too, where you got to balance those things. There’s a management part for a lot of players. But there’s also you got to practice and get better at your craft and continue to improve. So, we’ll balance that. I feel good about where that process is for us and for him. I think he’s well on the same page as well.”
Callahan added that Sneed is also working through a knee issue.
“I mean the knee is something that you manage all the time,” Callahan said. “And then for the quad injury, it has taken some time to rehab from. So those things are still kind of ongoing, simultaneously. It’s all part of the process for him. But he’s in a great place, excited about where he’s at. He’s progressing as expected.”
Sneed signed a four-year deal with the Titans last offseason after he was traded from the Chiefs. The 2020 fourth-round pick has recorded 40 passes defensed with 10 interceptions in his 62 career games.
The No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft is adjusting well to life as a pro.
Titans head coach Brian Callahan gave Cam Ward positive marks for his first few weeks in the club’s offseason program when asked about the quarterback on Tuesday.
“Cam has done a really nice job of integrating himself,” Callahan said in a Tuesday press conference. “A lot of that is just knowing the play call, being able to spit it out in the huddle, having the tempo, getting familiar with the receivers and what the words mean, and how to call it, how your snap count sounds. All that stuff has been really well done on his part.”
While Ward was selected at No. 1 and is widely expected to open the season as Tennessee’s starter, the quarterback has not officially been given that role. Will Levis, who’s started 21 games for the Titans over the last two seasons, is also technically in the mix at this point.
“I’ve been pleased with their demeanor and their approach,” Callahan said of both Levis and Ward. “Will’s done a really nice job of getting better at things he needed to get better at. I’ve felt really pretty good about his offseason work and how he’s come back.
“They’ve both done a really nice job getting up to speed where they needed to. Both have had different things that they’re trying to get accomplished. But I’m happy with where that’s at.”
With the Titans still in Phase II of the offseason program, Callahan said the reps at QB are evenly split.
“We’re not competing right now. It’ll change probably a little bit when we get to the actual OTAs and we’ve got 7-on-7 and team work and stuff like that,” Callahan said. “But right now, they’re really not going against anybody, so we just roll through it. They’re probably roughly about even all the way through, which is pretty standard for this time of year.”
The Titans also have Tim Boyle and Brandon Allen on their roster at quarterback. We’ll see how they end up distributing their reps behind center once the club reaches OTAs.
As potentially unbreakable NFL records go, the all-time rushing mark seems to be one of the most untouchable.
If any current player has a chance to get close enough to make things interesting, it’s Ravens running back Derrick Henry.
He’s the active leading rusher, with 11,423 yards. That puts him at 19th on the list, already ahead of Hall of Famers like John Riggins, O.J. Simpson, Earl Campbell, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka, and Terrell Davis.
In the early weeks of the 2025 season, Henry will leapfrog Steven Jackson and Fred Taylor. Barring serious injury, Henry likely will finish 2025 in the top 10.
Here’s the real question. How high will he go? He’s 2,628 yards away from the top six, and 3,495 away from the top five.
And the Emmitt Smith record of 18,355 yards is a mere 6,932 yards away.
Yes, Henry (now 31) will need several more years of high-end performance to get there. That said, he has shown no sign of slowing down. While the end can come quickly (and Father Time remains undefeated), maybe Henry is the outlier — like Emmitt was.
Smith played through the year in which he turned 35, generating 937 rushing yards in his final season. Henry is 5.5 seasons away from catching Smith, based on Henry’s average of 1,269 yards per season.
He had 1,921 yards last year, at 30. He’s playing with a generational quarterback, whose mere presence makes it easier for Henry to find daylight.
It won’t be easy. But here’s the point. It’s never really been a serious consideration that Henry could catch Emmitt.
Maybe it should be. And Emmitt would be fine with that; he told us several years ago at the Super Bowl that he wishes Walter Payton would have been alive to congratulate Emmitt when he broke Payton’s record. Put simply, Emmitt wants to be able to shake the hand of the person who breaks his record.
While it’s hardly anything close to a lock, there’s a non-zero chance that Emmitt will eventually be shaking Derrick Henry’s hand. Much of it will depend on the rest of Henry’s body will defy the hourglass long enough to keep running through, over, and around defenders.
