Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your day:
--On Tuesday, there was a lot of talk about the new catch rule -- Greg has you covered on that here -- but I thought the reaction of some current and former Patriots on social media when it came to the new rule about the helmet-to-helmet hits was really interesting. According to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, now, “It is a foul if a player lowers his head to initiate and make contact with his helmet against an opponent. The player may be disqualified. Applies to any player anywhere on the field.”
That sparked some angry Tweets from around the league, including folks here in New England.
To repeat for the 10,000th time...when a human wearing a helmet bends in an athletic position of any kind & leans forward in any way, HIS HELMETED HEAD IS 1ST. You can’t write an NFL rule that makes human physiology illegal, you unrepentant fools. God save football, yeesh
— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) March 27, 2018
Stopping the run just got easier if a RB can’t ram Into someone with his head down! How about fullback power blocks or flash blocks? ?
— Rob Ninkovich (@ninko50) March 27, 2018
Good luck enforcing this refs https://t.co/3IBMVPyG67
— LaAdrian Waddle (@LaAdrianWaddle) March 28, 2018
.@JManziel2's highlights from @AggieFootball Pro Day! ? pic.twitter.com/WmqCiEKabZ
— NFL (@NFL) March 28, 2018
Happy 3/28 #Patriots fans. pic.twitter.com/C8CJzU9fL9
— Will D. (@WAD1980) March 28, 2018