Coughlin: The eyes have it
I forgot to post this yesterday, but Tom Coughlin, the former receivers coach, spoke about what receivers can do to prevent tipped balls from going up in the air where they are most dangerous. I asked him if there's a way receivers can tip the ball down where it's safer, but as I was asking I realized that those would be called "drops" and not "tips." Anyway, Coughlin was gracious enough to answer.
"If it’s a high ball, you have to get your eyes up," Coughlin said. "A lot of those things occur when the eyes are the last thing up and the hands are up there and you end up tipping the ball, the high ball. The ball catches you by surprise. You don’t want that to happen. You have to see the ball all the way. You have to get your head and eyes right back to the ball. Those are some of the things. If you’re surprised by the ball, whatever your body position, if you’re surprised by the ball and you don’t catch the ball and it’s a high throw, it’s going to be tipped. Any time you tip the ball over the middle of the field it’s going the other way. The level of play at this level is far superior and the ball is going to get caught."