Nick Sirianni has had very active days at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Instead of being asked about his recent victory in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs or how he plans to upgrade his team for the 2025 season, all the attention has been on the Tush Push.
The Green Bay Packers have confirmed that they formally requested the league to permanently ban the controversial play, and this was Sirianni’s response during an interview with Mike Florio and Chris Simms regarding the criticisms about the risk of injuries. A new statement to reiterate his position after his first warning at the podium in front of the press.
“I’ve been answering these questions and I’ll go on and on. They talk a little bit about the safety of it. We ran it more than anybody and we were healthy throughout the play. What they just did with the kickoff rules was: ‘Hey, let’s get guys closer together so the collisions aren’t as much.’ Who’s closer together than on this point? Right? So, again, we feel like it’s a safe play. You know, obviously it benefits us to continue to run it and we’re excited about the play.”
What is the Tush Push?
The Tush Push is a play primarily used in short-yardage situations, where the offensive team sets in a really close formation and pushes the ball carrier forward with the help of teammates. It’s been often compared to scrums in rugby.
This technique is often seen on quarterback sneaks with the Eagles being the team which put it in the spotlight by bringing that asset to their playbook. Before them, almost no one even considered it.
Is the Tush Push safe?
In the middle of this huge debate, Nick Sirianni even talked about a very controversial moment in the playoffs when the Washington Commanders intentionally committed offsides to showcase the Tush Push as something ridiculous, although it was completely allowed by the rules. Additionally, the head coach assured that the NFL is very clear that the criticisms regarding injuries are unfounded.
“I do think that’s sour grapes because, again, we’re not the ones jumping offsides. There’s somebody else who was trying to stop it by doing that and time the snap count. That wasn’t our doing. The safety numbers, again, we ran it more than anybody, I can’t tell you I remember any injuries that we had off of that. The truth will come to light. The NFL has all those numbers on when guys get injured and when they don’t. Those numbers will come out and they’ll tell the story.”