The Ravens ran a three-man wedge last season under Rosburg. Teams that used four-man wedges will have a greater transition, he said, though not every team ran wedges.
"One thing I have learned about coaches in this league is they'll adapt," Rosburg said. "They'll figure out a way to run whatever they run and they're going to go by the rules because nobody wants to get penalized. At this point in time, we're still in a bit of discovery mode as to not only what to run, but how to run what you have."
The penalty for an illegal wedge is 15 yards. Given where wedges normally form, that could become a half-the-distance penalty and dictate poor field position. Last season, the Ravens ranked 29th in the league with an average drive start inside the 25-yard line.
Several Ravens who were questioned about the ban said they doubted it will make much difference. Jarret Johnson, a starting linebacker who has played on the Ravens' wedge the past three seasons, allowed that it was a step in the right direction for safety.
"But you're never going to make the game safe," he said. "There's still going to be as many concussions, there's still going to be a lot of high-speed collisions. But two big linemen [on the wedge] killing a small defensive back, I don't know if that's going to happen much anymore. We'll see."
Justin Bannan, who has been on the Ravens' wedge since arriving in 2006, doesn't think a lot has changed.
"As far as impact, I'm still going to have a guy running down [at me] and I'm still going to block him," Bannan said.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who coached special teams nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, said he thinks the change will lead to more long returns. The Ravens, who ranked 31st in the league in kick returns in 2008 with a 20.1 average, could use the help.
The NFL trend already was toward longer kick returns. In 2005 and 2006, there were a combined 21 touchdowns on kickoff returns. There were 25 alone in 2007 and 13 more in 2008.
But safety is the biggest impetus for the ban. Implicit in the change is the idea that certain players - known as wedge-busters - were charged with breaking up the wedge. Rosburg disputes that notion and says he doesn't use the term wedge-buster.
"I can only speak for us," Rosburg said, "but I think it's safe to say special teams coaches are not throwing guys in there with the idea we can sacrifice them. That's not the way the game is coached. These are human beings we're coaching.
