NFL introduces s new rule, here is all you need to know about emergency QB rules in 2023
NFL rules were altered as a result of yet another high-profile moment.
When backup quarterback Josh Johnson suffered a concussion and quarterback Brock Purdy tore the UCL in his throwing elbow, viewers of the NFC championship game in January questioned how the San Francisco 49ers would proceed.
NFL new emergency QB rules meaning explained in 2023
According to a change to the NFL bylaws that was approved on Monday afternoon at the May owners’ meetings, the following team in this situation will have more quarterback optionality.
NFL teams can now officially name an inactive, emergency third quarterback who will suit up in case the team’s two active quarterbacks are unable to.
The NFL approved a bylaw to allow teams to dress a third "emergency" QB on gamedays. If two active QBs are injured or disqualified from game & unable to participate, QB3 can come up.
Notable after 49ers faced challenge in NFC Championship. pic.twitter.com/JKssu3WMYF
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) May 22, 2023
The third quarterback shall be inactive unless and until one of the two active quarterbacks is injured or disqualified from the game and is unable to play, as per bylaw language.
If any of the two active quarterbacks is able to return to the game, the quarterback must be taken out of it. It is not authorised to carry on playing in a different position.
Specific and unlikely to occur frequently, the criteria are narrow. A head coach is not allowed to apply for this leniency because of their performance or behaviour, according to the bylaw language. The emergency quarterback will be announced when clubs turn in their active/inactive lists 90 minutes before each game.
Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys, stated to Yahoo Sports in February that the league “cannot ignore when we have a team that has gotten short at quarterback.”
He further said:
“That’s the best way to initiate and the best way to make decisions is when you have examples at, I would say, very sensitive times,” Jones started regarding rule modifications that have affected playoff results.
He also said, “And boy, we don’t want teams without quarterbacks in these games where 50 million people are watching.”
The active gameday criteria and the practising squad were both impacted by the frequent roster rule changes that occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Every team was required to list an emergency third quarterback on their gameday roster by the NFL from 1991 to 2010. The team’s first two quarterbacks would not be allowed to play if this quarterback entered the game prior to the fourth quarter.