NFL approves rule placing all kickoff fair catches at 25-yard line

NFL owners have approved a rule to place the ball at the 25-yard line following any fair catch during a kickoff, the league announced Tuesday.

Returners will be able to call for a fair catch anywhere on the field - not just in the end zone - and have the ball placed at their team's 25-yard line.

NFL special teams coordinators unanimously opposed the change, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Owners approved it on a one-year trial basis.

The league's competition committee proposed the modification in an attempt to reduce injuries on kickoff plays. NFL executive Jeff Miller cited an increased concussion rate on kickoff plays and said more changes may be coming, according to Pelissero.

The new rule is the latest in a line of changes intended to promote fewer kickoff returns. The league has moved the kickoff line closer to the returning team's end zone several times throughout the years, and it moved touchbacks from the 20-yard line to the 25-yard line in 2016.

Twenty-six NFL teams had a kickoff touchback percentage of 50 or higher last season; touchbacks were awarded only when the ball was kicked to or through the end zone.