Eagles learn about new rules courtesy of Brady, Cutler, Cole

BETHLEHEM - The new "Tom Brady rule" and the new "Jay Cutler rule" might generate more interest, but the new "Nick Cole rule" resonates, too.

The Eagles received a visit from four NFL officials yesterday, who, after the day's practices, introduced the Birds to the annual rule changes and points of emphasis, most of which are aimed at player safety.

So, no more lunging into quarterbacks' knees, which cost Brady. Now, defenses can immediately recover loose balls fallen from quarterbacks' hands that incorrectly were ruled incomplete passes, which last season helped Cutler.

And Cole will have to crush people in a less convenient manner.

Cole, Victor Abiamiri and Dan Klecko created a typical kickoff "wedge" in their game against the visiting Giants on Nov. 9. Cole demolished wedge-buster Jonathan Goff, who crumpled to the ground. Cole recalled the play fondly.

"Yeah. That was the guy who got the concussion," Cole said, looking off into the distance as a devilish smile crept onto his face.

Cole's hit is part of the video presentation that all teams will watch when briefed by their crew of visiting officials. It will make him a celebrity, for a time, among his peers.

This season, Cole might deal more pain, but he'll have to do it with less help. The wedge has been outlawed.

On kick returns, no more than two players can be within 2 yards of each other. The penalty, 15 yards from the spot of the foul, is especially significant, since a wedge usually is set up inside the receiving team's 20.

"That's a huge foul," said referee Scott Green, the crew chief of the crew that visited Lehigh. "If you do it at the 15, you'll have it at the 7 1/2."

Teams are preparing for the death of the wedge, which was not universally employed anyway.

"I don't think it's going to affect us a whole lot," said Eagles special-teams coach Ted Daisher. "We weren't a four-man wedge. It affects them more than anybody."

Certainly, the wedge rule isn't the sexiest, or most relevant, change.

In what the league called a "clarification," defenders no longer can lunge or roll into opposing quarterbacks' lower legs. The video showed Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard doing just that to the Patriots' Brady in their game Sept. 7. That play shredded Brady's left knee and ended his season.

"Anything low will be called roughing the passer," Green said.

Well, almost anything. Defenders forced into quarterbacks' lower legs will not be penalized, Green said. Players also may still swipe and grab quarterbacks' lower legs.

Asked if the change could be called the Tom Brady rule, Green replied, "You guys can call it that."

Similarly, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was involved in another, more vague, change. As the Denver Broncos' quarterback last Sept. 14, Cutler was ruled to have thrown an incomplete forward pass against the San Diego Chargers. Replays showed the play to be a fumble; the Chargers recovered it.

However, since the ball was ruled down by the whistle, officials could not review the play and award possession to the defense. The Broncos retained the ball at the spot of the fumble, scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion, and won by one point. Top official Ed Hochuli was downgraded because of his mistaken call.

Now, the play is reviewable. If, upon review, it is ruled a fumble and is immediately covered, the team covering it is awarded possession at the spot of the recovery.

That means defenders, long taught to stop at the chirp of the officials' whistle, now must play through whistles on such plays.

"That's correct," Green said. "I'm sure the coaches are teaching their guys, 'Go get the ball,' because you just don't know."

And that's not unprecedented.

Green referenced a 2007 rule change in which officials were given the ability to review whether a runner was down by contact when he fumbled. Previously, if the player is ruled down on the field, the whistle is deemed to have blown and the play would be dead. The rule change allows for review, and for the defense to recover the ball if it does so immediately.

More obscurely, the "Victor Abiamiri rule" has been created, too. In the NFC Championship Game, Abiamiri famously watched a bouncing kickoff go past him, incorrectly believing it would go out of bounds. The Cardinals recovered the ball. The ruling on the field was that it did go out of bounds, and the Eagles were awarded possession.

Officials were not allowed to review the play.

Now, upon review, the recovering team will be awarded possession of the ball where it is recovered, with no advance allowed.

Most important, perhaps, is the modification of a rule that protects defenseless receivers and defenders.

Helmet-to-helmet contact was always illegal. Now, hitting a defenseless receiver in the head or neck initially with a shoulder or forearm is a 15-yard penalty, with possible further league discipline.

This means that the human missiles in the defensive backfield have to be even more careful now.

"Any kind of contact to the head of a receiver is going to be a foul," Green said. "If we see the head go back, it's probably going to be a flag."

As an extension of the defenseless-player rule, there can be no more blindside blocks to the head or neck area with the helmet, forearm or shoulder.

Onside-kick rules were changed, too.

There will be no more bunching of players in the middle of the field. At least four players must be on either side of the kicker, three of whom must be outside the hash marks, one of whom must be outside the yard-line number.

And there will no longer be an automatic re-kick in any instance if the kicking team fails to legally recover an onside-kick attempt.

Other points of emphasis:

* Horse collar: Since the horse-collar foul was instituted in 2005, the number of horse-collar penalties doubled in 2008.

* Unsportsmanlike conduct: Striking, kicking and kneeing opponents has increased, so officials will be on the lookout for infractions, and the league will be more vigilant in disciplining players after the fact.

* Taunting: There was an increase in "in your face" taunting, so overtly demeaning or threatening behavior directed at opponents or officials will be tolerated less and disciplined harshly.

* Milling about: Teams will be discouraged from hovering near players who are injured on the field to allow better access for medical personnel and equipment.

The preseason will determine the practicality and enforceability of the new rules and points of emphasis.

"I have some questions," Daisher said. "We need throughout the preseason to get a clear, defined idea of what they want."

Cole made it clear what he wanted: more shattering contact.

Yesterday, during special-teams practice, he formed a legal two-man wedge with Leonard Weaver. Cole, a center, is listed at 6 feet, 350 pounds, dimensions that suggest heavy-footedness.

"Not at all, as long as you keep your feet moving," Cole said, anticipating future successes and the resulting excitement among his teammates despite the rule change. "I try to do it all the time. It gets everybody on the sidelines crunk."

Or concussed.