Is the era of the tush push soon to be behind us? As revealed Monday, the answer to that question would be yes—if the Green Bay Packers have their way, that is.

Per ESPN's Ryan Clark, however, such an idea is both "soft" and "dumb" and makes it seem like you're too lazy to coach your players on how to defend the play.

"How soft do you have to be? 'Oh, we can't stop it. Our defensive tackles aren't tough enough. Our linebackers get hurt,'" Clark said Monday during NFL Live, imitating what he presumes are the complaints of other teams. "Shut the hell up and bow your neck. Somebody get physical and stop the play. And as [Mina Kimes] says, it's like everything else in sports: If you don't have the personnel to do it, you actually don't do it.

Clark went on to cite the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills as evidence that you can stop a quarterback sneak when done right—as grieving Bills fans will recall, the Bills were stopped in multiple modified tush push attempts vs. K.C., including in the controversial fourth-down attempt that essentially sealed the game. (That said, the Chiefs would fail to stop the Eagles' tush push in Super Bowl LIX two weeks later.)

"To go in there and be like, 'Ahhhhh,' instead of actually coaching ... to run away from coaching and try to outlaw this play is dumb," Clark continues. "And it's soft. And to be honest, when you look at the actual play and the way that [the Eagles] run it, it's actually more difficult for them to practice it, to do it the amount of times that they do. And unless it's a player health and safety decision, you don't take it out of the game."

Watch those comments below:

The "tush push," as it is known outside of the Philadelphia Eagles locker room, has become a controversial play call over the years, mainly because the Birds are so good at using it to convert on short fourth downs, and the rest of the league can neither replicate the effort nor stop it on the other side of the ball. And while it's a play that's available to every team, it's really only Philly that manages to pull it off time and time again.

To Clark's point about player health and safety, it was reported in October 2023 that the NFL and the NFL Players Association would be studying injury data surrounding the tush push after two New York Giants players were hurt during an attempt. Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott raised similar concerns while speaking at the NFL combine on Monday. But such discussions, as well as criticism from fans, etc., are really nothing new.

So injury issues aside, Clark doesn't think the Birds should be penalized for finding what works. If other teams don't like it, they can try and stop it. Or better yet—if other teams can't beat 'em, join 'em.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN's Ryan Clark Slams Possible Tush Push Ban As 'Dumb' and 'Soft'.