How do NFL players know when to go in and out of the game?

Question

It seems like nowadays the running back or wide receivers go in and out almost every play. How do they know it’s their turn to go in or come out

In: Other

Answer 1

Couple ways. Sometimes they signal the sideline to take themselves out, so obviously they are aware of that. Sometimes the play call is for something they aren’t in, so they know they have to come out. Sometimes the offensive coordinator or head coach wants them out for any reason so they send a replacement to the huddle, who tells the current player they need to come off.

Answer 2

Players look at their coaches each play to for the formation and a sub package. Is it Nickle, Dime, goal. Positional coaches will rotate guys out and its up to the players on the field to be paying attention to the package assignments each play, usually looking to their positional coach or coordinator.

Answer 3

There’s players with a green dot on the back of their helmet. That signifies they have comms with the coaching staff through radio speakers in their helmet. It’s not just QBs on offense, a few defenders have them too. I’m not sure how many are allowed on the field at a given time but since you don’t see that many green dots, it’s safe to say there is a limit in place.

With those comms, the coaches/coordinators would tell them who’s in or out and they can relay that to the others.

*edit to answer the actual question

Answer 4

It basically boils down to the fact that they are professional adults who are paid millions of dollars and part of their job is to know where to be and when. That includes where to line up and when to leave the field.

Answer 5

Each player is typically a part of a “package”. These “packages” have names, for this example we’ll use Jumbo. When the play gets called, all the coaches hear it over the headsets and starts relaying that to the sideline “Jumbo! Jumbo!”. Same with the players in the field, the QB will know what package the play is a part of and relay that to the players in the field. How do players know which package they’re in? That’s usually determined during the practice week.