NFL looking to focus on replay issues, safety

If the yet-to-be drawn up proposal were adopted, the new rule would be expanded to cover running backs or receivers dipping their heads and using the top of the helmet to drive the pile backward.

Anderson said the potential change would benefit the health of both players and there is initial support on the committee to do that.

"When we started playing football we were taught to keep our head up and see where we hit. It's kind of, for some reason, evolved in a different way now and so we're really looking hard at that," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.

"We've got big, fast, strong guys on great fields now and they just move, run faster and do things at a better pace. We have to continue to look at that. So those are the important things moving forward."

The challenge, as Mara pointed out, is finding the right language to institute that kind of rule.

Anderson and Mara both said the injury numbers from last season showed the league is making progress in reducing concussions, an issue they will continue to monitor and amend in the future. Neither cited the official statistics.

Another concern is the defensive alignments on extra points and field goals.

Mara said in recent years that most teams have been putting two or three defensive players on the line of scrimmage and then putting two or three more behind them so they can push the linemen into the backfield in hopes of blocking a low kick. The committee may consider making that illegal.

The league also plans to take a look at changing the rules on illegal blocks, which could help avoid the low, rolling block that knocked Texans linebacker Brian Cushing out for the season with a torn ligament in his left knee.