Amid discussion of the hot topic "Tush Push" play going on around the NFL, Eagles Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Lurie spoke to reporters in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday.
The fate of the Tush Push was one of the rule proposals on the table at the NFL Annual Meeting, but after owners discussed it, they "pushed" the vote to May.
In the event of the Tush Push, otherwise known as the Brotherly Shove in Philadelphia, the quarterback receives the ball and pushes forward behind the offensive line with the help of a running back and tight end lined up behind him. The play is often used in short-yardage situations, with teams looking to gain a first down or touchdown.
Coaches around the league have cited health and safety concerns around the play, with others feeling that it looks like rugby and "isn't football."
"I think for everybody, including myself especially – health and safety is the most important thing when evaluating any play," Lurie said. "We've been very open to whatever data exists on the Tush Push, there's just been no data that shows that it isn't a very, very safe play. If it weren't, we wouldn't be pushing the Tush Push."
Behind one of the league's top offensive lines coached by Jeff Stoutland and a quarterback who can squat more than 600 pounds, the Eagles have found success in recent years using the play.
In the 2024 season, Philadelphia converted on 39-of-48 Tush Push attempts (81.3 percent). In 2023, it converted on 88.1 percent of attempts and in 2022 it finished 36-of-39, good for 92.3 percent.
"It's a play that's available to every other team in the league," Lurie said.
"I don't ever remember a play being banned because a single team or a few teams were running it effectively. It's part of what I personally and I think most of us love about football, is that it's a chess match. Let the chess match play out and if for any reason it does get banned, we will try to be the very best at short-yardage situations and we've got a lot of ideas there."
Lurie emphasized throughout his time with reporters that if injuries posed a risk, the team would be more than willing to re-evaluate using the play.
He noted that the use of the Tush Push is more protective of the quarterback than the traditional quarterback sneak, which is also a big part of why the Eagles began running it.
"We will always, always support what is safer for the players – it's a no-brainer. If this is proven to be less safe for the players, we will be against the Tush Push. But until that's the case, to me there would be no reason to ban this play," Lurie said. – Written by Liam Wichser
