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Super Bowl champion Nick Foles is “pro tush push” as controversy surrounds the Philadelphia Eagles’ famed play.
In the Eagles’ last two games, there have been multiple instances where the Eagles offensive linemen have appeared to jump offside, drawing criticism of the play.
Foles, 36, told Fox News Digital that it doesn’t make sense to ban the tush push.
“I’m pro tush push. Being there, I know the quality of offensive line coach they have in Jeff Stoutland, I know the quality of offensive linemen that they have and how they’re taught and the little details that make the play what it is,” Foles told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“Not only that, you have Jalen Hurts running the play, who’s great at this; he’s probably the best in the world at it. And there’s a reason those little details are why it’s so successful. So to ban it doesn’t make sense because any team can run this play, but teams get mad because they can’t do what the Eagles do because they don’t have the guys teaching the play that the Eagles do.”
Foles said it is up to the referees, not the Eagles, to properly officiate the play.
“It’s up to the officials, not the Philadelphia Eagles, to officiate it correctly. Were there false starts in the Chiefs game? Obviously, like with the slo-mo, you see it, there were some false starts, but that’s not on the Eagles. You are always trying to get an advantage with the snap count, so they’re not always going on one, not always going on quick count, guys do jump offsides because you are trying to get that initial leverage,” Foles said.
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“You’re not trying to cheat the system, but you are trying to use your snap count as a weapon in the sense of like ‘we’re going to be the first to the battle, we are going to be the first to get down low and get the leverage.’ That’s what makes the play successful, so the snap count is always used for an advantage.”
The one-time Pro Bowler said the tush push is a very hard play to officiate.
“It’s up to the officials, I don’t know what they use — do they use AI goggles, do they use this to continue to, when it’s not a gameday, to work on seeing everything fine-tuned? It probably is a very difficult play to officiate but it is a legal play. They are just going to have to call false starts if it’s a false start. That’s the only (solution) is to officiate it a higher intensity.”
Regardless of how Foles personally feels about the play, he doesn’t see how the NFL can ban the play. The former Eagles star said it would be stripping the team of its competitive advantage.
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“I don’t see how you can ban it. If you are going to ban this, then you can’t let Brandon Aubrey kick field goals, you can’t have Josh Allen – you can’t throw the ball after four seconds. Like, they have their competitive advantages because they are so good at those things; this is the Eagles’ competitive advantage.”
Foles cited the risk of injury as a possible reason to ban the play, but said how offensive linemen who have run the play don’t see it as a risk.
“I think the biggest argument could be injuries, but I’ve talked to players about this play, and this is the play they feel least likely to get injured on; it’s just a dog pile. They say the impact is so minimal that they don’t feel worried about getting injured on this play. So I know that they’ll pull that analytical data out there, I don’t have those analytics, I’m just talking from guys who actually were on the front lines of running it, the linemen, and I know that they weren’t worried about running this play and felt safe doing it,” Foles said.
Foles mentioned how when he and Carson Wentz were the Eagles’ quarterbacks in 2017 and 2018, before the tush push, they were highly successful with quarterback sneaks. Foles said the tush push is just a further development in what had already been a successful play for the team.
Foles thinks the NFL will make some alterations to the play next season but not ban it entirely.
“I don’t see how they can ban it. I think maybe they stop allowing players to push other players from the back, but I still think the play is successful. I don’t think that stops it, so they’ll probably make little changes here and there, but I don’t think they’ll ban it altogether,” Foles said.
Foles played 11 seasons in the NFL, and was named Super Bowl LII MVP for his incredible performance with the Eagles in their Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. The one-time Pro Bowler played five seasons with the Eagles (two different stints), one season with the then-St. Louis Rams, one with the Kansas City Chiefs, two with the Chicago Bears, one with the Jacksonville Jaguars and one with the Indianapolis Colts.
Across 71 games (58 starts), Foles had a 29-29 record with a career completion percentage of 62.4%, throwing for 14,227 yards and 82 touchdowns with 47 interceptions.
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