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Andy Reid on kickoff error: Nice for us to see that


Andy Reid on kickoff error: Nice for us to see that

The NFL’s first full weekend of preparation brought the first unusual result of a kickoff under the league’s new rules.

Chiefs returner Mecole Hardman caught a ball that was on the 1-yard line while kneeling in the end zone, thinking he was going for a touchback. Under previous rules, that would have been the case because the ball bounced in the end zone before reentering the field of play, but such balls are now in play and that meant it was now a safety to catch it the way Hardman did.

After Saturday’s game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he was Looking for a more detailed explanation of the rules. On Monday, Reid said Hardman should have picked up the ball and run with it, but it was “our responsibility to make sure that gets sorted out.” Thanks to what happened in the game, that’s now done for everyone involved.

“I think it was good for the officials to see that, I think it was good for us to see it,” Reid said, via Ed Easton Jr. of USAToday.com. “We understood the part that the ball is still live when it goes in. That’s similar to the sideline where you can be out and reach back in — that part has been cleared up; it’s not like that, so that’s a live ball.”

Other teams will probably enjoy seeing how things turned out for the Chiefs, too, because the rule is new to everyone and the new feature of a ball landing in the end zone wasn’t as well-regarded in the offseason as other aspects of the rule. That changed last weekend, and a lot of people will benefit from this example of what not to do.

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