Feigning injuries won’t come without a price starting this season.

In 2025, once the ball is spotted, if a player goes down with an injury, that will cost his team a timeout. If the team doesn’t have a timeout left, then the team will be issued a five-yard delay-of-game penalty. SEC coordinator of officials John McDaid discussed the new rule Tuesday at SEC Media Days in Atlanta.

If a player goes down because of an injury before the ball is ready for play, the team will not be charged a timeout and no penalty would be issued.

McDaid showed a play where a player went down right before the ball was snapped. Another player on the defense was starting to grab at his hamstring. Then he stopped when the defensive lineman went down with an injury.

“I see smiles out there,” McDaid said. “Sometimes these plays bring a little hilarity to the presentation.”

Previously, there was no rule in place. If a player went down with an injury at any point before the ball was snapped, officials would call timeout for injury. There was no penalty and teams wouldn’t have to use a timeout.

The new rule is an attempt to slow down fake injuries in college football.

“Sometimes players may do it on their own because it feels accepted, and that’s what we want to stop,” Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of officials, told ESPN. “I’m not sure there is a perfect solution, but I think this is a good first step. This will have impact to those that are very obvious and are late and looking to the sideline and going down. Coaches do not want to risk a timeout under any circumstances. Those are very valuable commodities in the game.”

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.