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Noise emanating from the winter meetings in Nashville has the league considering changes that would cut down on the number of kickoff returns.

The concern is injuries. Research shows concussions are more likely to occur on those plays than any other.

The NFL already has taken steps, moving kickoffs up to the kicking team’s 35-yard-line and instituting a fair-catch option anywhere inside the receiving team’s 25, where that team would next scrimmage the ball.

The change bothers most purists as the majority of kickoffs now result in touchbacks, removing one of the most exciting plays in the game.

We’d hate to see the three-down game get more American, but we’re not going to argue to keep a dangerous play around, either.

Let’s hope they find another way.

Perhaps a version of the XFL kickoff would work, where teams lined up five yards apart on the receiving side of mid-field — at the 30- and 35-yard lines — and the only players who can move before the ball is caught are the kicker and the returner.

That cuts down on high-speed collisions.

The CFL could also allow teams who get scored on to scrimmage at their 40-yard line instead of receiving a kickoff, an option they already get after field goals.