A proposal by the Baltimore Ravens to expand the scope of instant replay was tabled on Wednesday until May, but here's a review of the final day of the NFL's Annual League Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida.
The NFL approved a total of nine rule changes and three alterations of bylaws this week. There were a total of 19 rule change proposals submitted by the NFL's Competition Committee and teams. Competition Committee Chair Rich McKay said during a press conference that six proposals were voted down and three were withdrawn.
The Ravens expansion of replay proposal was derived from a previous pitch by the New England Patriots. It wants to provide coaches with a third challenge in games and expand the number of plays that can be reviewed.
The topic, as well as a bylaw change proposal to allow players and coaches to review video on the sidelines with Surface tablets, will be revisited by ownership during meetings in May.
Coffee talk
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer joined the other 15 NFC head coaches at a breakfast media session that lasted nearly an hour Wednesday.
Zimmer talked about his expectations for Adrian Peterson, **who just turned 31**, the **offensive line**, coaching staff additions and how to continue improving the Vikings defense, which ranked fifth in points allowed per game in helping Minnesota win the 2015 NFC North title.
A couple of time approximations in the video: 8:39 — a series of questions about Cordarrelle Patterson, Charles Johnson and Vikings receivers; 12:09 — the additions of offensive line coach Tony Sparano and tight ends coach Pat Shurmur; 30:10 — his thoughts on continuing to call defensive plays since becoming a head coach. "It's kind of my baby," Zimmer said.
Around the league and globe
The relocation of the Rams from St. Louis to Los Angeles, where they played from 1946-94, for the 2016 season and beyond has been one of the biggest offseason storylines.
In addition to returning to the land of the big screens, the Rams also will flood the small screen as the team featured on this year's Hard Knocks documentary television show by HBO.
"We have agreed with the Rams that they will appear on Hard Knocks this year," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "So the Los Angeles Rams and their return to LA will be chronicled through the eyes of Hard Knocks and NFL Films, and we're excited about putting it on that platform."
Goodell also mentioned the NFL's continued push to grow the game globally. He confirmed that the league is evaluating a potential regular-season game in China in 2018.
"We'll continue to have our London series of three games, we're playing in Mexico this November, and we also talked about within the next couple of years the potential for a game in China — a regular-season game in China," Goodell said. "We're excited about that potential, and we'll continue to have dialogue on that."
