A rule change and overall awareness toward concussions may have helped reduce the total suffered this year by 11 percent.
According to Patriots writer Ben Volin, 244 concussions were suffered this season, down from 275 in 2015.
NFL says there were fewer overall concussions in the 2016 season, and concussions went down slightly on kickoffs with the new touchback rule pic.twitter.com/dykjMiDQBB
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) January 26, 2017
The league has worked toward reducing the amount of kick returns, changing where the ball is kicked five years ago to placing the ball on the 25-yard line instead of the 20 this year. As a result, fewer concussion happened on kick returns. However, more ACL, MCL and hamstring injuries occurred.

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