There will be new procedures during the 2015 season for monitoring and preparing footballs prior to games, reports Mike Pereira of FoxSports.com. As the writer notes, there will be revisions to “the number of footballs prepared, random testing and changes in the oversight of the footballs once they’ve been checked by officials.”
The “properties” of a football will remain the same, meaning the infamous ball pressure will still be required to fall between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI.
Some assorted notes from the around the league as we wrap up the weekend…
- The Vikings are likely waiting a year until they try to extend safety Harrison Smith, tweets Chris Tomasson of St. Paul Pioneer Press. The writer notes that the organization prefers to hand out extensions during the final year of a player’s contract.
- Some of Junior Galette‘s former teammates are standing by the linebacker. Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis is hopeful that another organization will give the embattled player a second chance. “You know, that’s a guy who I think is a good guy. Probably made a couple of bad decisions lately, but I don’t want people to judge him,” Lewis told Joel A. Erickson of the Black and Gold blog. “Give him a chance, give him an opportunity. Wish the best for him. Don’t talk down on him and say this guy’s that. Like they say, don’t ever judge a book from the first two pages. Always read the middle.”
- Safety Kenny Vaccaro echoed that sentiment. “I really didn’t follow all the stuff closely,” Vaccaro said. “Junior’s a great player, he played his heart out every game. It’s unfortunate that we can’t have him, because he’s a great pass rusher.”