NFL sees a surge in returns with
the new dynamic kickoff. Onside kicks remain a concern
[October 22, 2025]
By STEPHEN WHYNO
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is pleased by an increase in returns as a
result of adjustments to the so-called dynamic kickoff, with more
plays and fewer injuries, though a change could eventually be coming
to onside kicks.
There have been 877 kick returns so far this season, a rate of 79.3%
that is up significantly from the 31.7% through the first seven
weeks of last season. It's the highest return rate at this point
since 2006, with the second-most yards through Week 7 in history,
according to league officials.
Owners voted in April to make the kickoff format permanent after
experimenting with it in 2024, while moving touchbacks on kicks that
reach the end zone on the fly from the 30 to the 35 in the hopes of
leading to more kicks in play and more returns.
"I’m just happy that the foot is still in the game," Troy Vincent,
executive VP of football operations and a retired defensive back,
said Tuesday at the NFL's annual fall owners meeting. “We’ve brought
the foot and preserved the foot in the game. We still got some work
to do in some other areas like the onside kick, so we talked about
that.”
Vincent did not express concern about there being only one kick
return touchdown so far, but the inability of teams to successfully
recover onside kicks led him to broach the topic with owners about
considering proposals by Denver and Philadelphia to offer the
alternative of a long fourth-down play to get the ball back when
trailing.
The league this season gave teams the ability to attempt an onside
kick any time when trailing, after it was only allowed in the fourth
quarter last year, but the opponent still has to be notified, taking
away any element of surprise.

“When you start getting a less than 5% recovery rate, now that we’ve
seen what has happened with the dynamic kickoff, it may be time for
the membership to revisit some of those things that may be out of
ordinary,” Vincent said.
The kickoff change was also implemented as a way of decreasing
injuries that were frequent because of the speed and physicality.
Jeff Miller, NFL executive VP of player health and safety
initiatives, said that worked in the preseason, with just two
concussions and no ACL injuries in exhibition games even though 77%
of kicks were returned.
"The speeds have slowed down given the different formation, and
they’re substantially slower," Miller said. “Therefore the blocks
and tackles are happening at slower speeds.”
One area of concern is how many kickers have been involved in making
tackles — 17 already after a total of 19 all last season and 15 in
2023, according to Sportradar.
“Just by the way of formation, oftentimes that kicker’s not only the
last line of defense, in most cases when the returner hits that
crease, he’s right in the face of the kicker,” Vincent said. “But
that is something that the committee asked us to continue to keep
monitoring.”
Very little tush push debate among NFL owners
After narrowly failing to pass a proposal that would have banned the
tush push play that the Philadelphia Eagles have used effectively to
win the Super Bowl and make another appearance, Vincent said there
wasn't much discussion about it other than talk about how difficult
the quarterback sneak maneuver is to officiate.
The NFL said in a training video sent to officials last month that
the Eagles should have been penalized for at least one false start
when they used the tush push against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week
2.
“What we’re seeing is that line judge, sometimes on a replay we see
in some cases, well, the guard jumped or the guard moved or the
guard was in the neutral zone or someone else was in the neutral
zone,” Vincent said. “It is really hard for that line judge to
identify that based on where he’s at looking down the line of
scrimmage.”

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Detroit Lions running back Kye Robichaux (25) is upended returning a
kickoff against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half of an
NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP
Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

While acknowledging “there's a team that still does
it well," Vincent said the league is hoping to get better at
identifying tush push penalties.
Field surfaces were also discussed
Season-ending knee injuries to New York Giants receiver Malik Nabers
on the turf at MetLife Stadium and Pittsburgh Steelers special teams
captain Miles Killebrew on grass at Acrisure Stadium, which some
teammates described as an unplayable field, have reignited the
debate about surfaces and player safety.
The topic came up Tuesday, and chief administrator of football
operations Dawn Aponte said there is a heightened focus on playing
surfaces.
“What we’ve seen thus far is not a significant difference in terms
of the injury risks on grass versus synthetic,” Aponte said. “We’re
tracking not just surface hardness now, but we’re also looking at
injury restitution and traction — making progress there in terms of
how we’re going to both improve the consistency and the performance
of synthetic."
MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands has gained an anecdotal
reputation for being unsafe, and receiver Odell Beckham Jr. posted
to social media asking the NFL to get rid of the turf.
Miller said league data tells a different story.
“As it relates to MetLife, they had one of the lowest injury rates —
not just as synthetic but across the league — last year,” Miller
said. “Any injury that occurs on our surfaces, regardless of what
they are, are things that we want to investigate and learn from and
if they can be deterred, we want to do that. But as far as how
MetLife is playing, it’s playing really well and has for a while.”
Giants' concussion protocol investigation is ongoing
A conclusion has not yet been reached in the investigation into the
Giants' handling of the concussion protocol when coach Brian Daboll
and running back Cam Skattebo each broached the blue medical tent
while quarterback Jaxson Dart was being evaluated during a game on
Oct. 9, according to Miller, who added no other details.
“The investigation’s ongoing,” Miller said. “In these things, we try
to expedite it with the Players Association to get to a resolution.
I don’t know what ‘soon’ means in this context, but we’re making
progress in it.”

No LA Olympic resolution yet
The league and the NFL Players Association are still working on
details concerning participation in flag football at the 2028 Summer
Olympics in Los Angeles, executive VP of international events Peter
O'Reilly said, citing strong support from the union as well as
owners, who voted unanimously to give permission to make it happen
pending an agreement.
“There’s just strong momentum and people see the broader value of
both growing flag and supporting the players’ interest in
representing their country, whether that’s the U.S. or otherwise,”
O'Reilly said. “Still finalizing that, and then as we turn the
corner into ’26, we’ll do broader outreach once we have that in
place to really get an expression of interest from players — who’s
interested in playing — and then start in that two-year run-up to LA
create a lot of excitement, we think.”
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