In Tuesday’s media address, Dr. Betsy Nabel, NFL's chief health and medical adviser, made it clear that the NFL would be focusing on injury research and prevention.

Nabel was present along with a panel of doctors who advise the league. In fact, the panel has stressed that there is a need to carry out more research to improve the current understanding of repetitive head injuries and other types of injury as well.

The next goal will be to raise awareness to behavioral health of athletes. Emphasis will be given to improve the understanding in matters like prevalence of depression, suicide, substance abuse and other behavior issues that happen not only in football, but also in other sports as well.

In February, Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, was appointed by the NFL so that she can head the league’s medical strategy and improvise player safety. The step was taken after former football players having a history of concussions reported of long-term health issues.

Another reason was the criticism faced by the league for not being able to handle the issue. Nabel affirmed that prevention is the most important part of an effort.

NFL has taken steps to improve player’s safety, like pregame medical assessments of players, on-field and postgame assessments of players who were hard hit in the game and reducing the number of kickoff returns by moving the kickoff spot five yards forward.

Dr. Russ Lonser, chairman of the NFL's Head, Neck and Spine Subcommittee, said, “What this has resulted in over the past three years is a 25 percent reduction in concussion, 40 percent reduction in helmet-to-helmet hits”.

Nabel said their main aim is to provide safety to their players by bringing changes in the rules and policies, so that there is a minimum risk of injury.