NFL owners have approved a rule that will incentivize fair catches on balls fielded outside of the end zone.

This season, a fair catch on a kickoff will be placed at the 25-yard line regardless of where it is fielded.

The proposal is designed to counteract a recent increase in "pop-up" kickoffs that some teams use to pin the returning team deep in their own territory.

Concussion rates on kickoffs have surged over the past two seasons, to nearly twice as high as the average offensive or defensive play, despite a series of previous tweaks to its format that have resulted in touchbacks on roughly 60% of kickoffs on an annual basis.