The NFL is making sportsmanship and illegal celebrations by players a point of emphasis for its on-field officials this season.

The officials have stressed that to players and coaches during their visits to teams’ training camps, according to Walt Anderson, the NFL’s officiating rules analyst.

“It’s just one of those areas that the league wants to work actively on,” Anderson said during a video news conference Thursday. “There are plenty of ways for players to be able to celebrate. And they come up with some very unique and often entertaining ways. So we want them to focus on those and not the inappropriate areas.”

The NFL previously has eased its restrictions on some player celebrations in trying to address its reputation as the “No Fun League.” But it also has said it does not want those celebrations to be aimed at opponents in a taunting manner. And Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said player celebrations that include violent gestures have no place in the sport.

Infractions will result in 15-yard penalties.

“The sportsmanship is a point of emphasis and clarification for the players and the clubs this year,” Anderson said. “I know Troy addressed this in the annual video that all of the clubs see during training camp from the standpoint of our taunting was up, I believe, about 55 percent last year. Unsportsmanlike gestures, whether they were either simulating either shooting a gun or brandishing of a gun or inappropriate gestures like a throat-slash or unfortunate sexual gestures that were made, those were up almost 133 percent. … The officials have made it a point of emphasis to all of the clubs.”

Five things to watch before the season

1. Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback situation: Matthew Stafford resumed practicing, but his back issues have been concerning. The Rams badly need him in the lineup.

2. Contract disputes: The contract situations of Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin and pass rushers Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys and Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals remain unresolved. And now the season is almost at hand.

3. New Orleans Saints’ quarterback decision: Coach Kellen Moore must choose between Spencer Rattler and rookie Tyler Shough for the starting assignment. Rattler starts the preseason finale Saturday against the Denver Broncos.

4. Rashee Rice suspension: The representatives for the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, the NFL Players Association and the league still could reach a settlement on the length of a suspension under the personal conduct policy ahead of Rice’s scheduled Sept. 30 disciplinary hearing.

5. Cleveland Browns’ quarterback depth chart: Coach Kevin Stefanski has named Joe Flacco the Week 1 starter but must decide what to do with Kenny Pickett and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

NFL back in its offices

The NFL has bolstered the security at its offices in Manhattan with employees back at work there following last month’s shootings.

The changes were overseen by Cathy Lanier, the NFL’s chief security officer and formerly the police chief in D.C.

“We are working with the building and the other tenants within the building on building security,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said Thursday. “We’re very lucky that our security chief Cathy Lanier … has tremendous experience in this space and that we have terrific partners in the building as we look for ways to make it even more secure than it was before.

“Our owners committee on security has met on a couple of occasions and will report out to the full ownership in the coming weeks on some further recommendations that they have, not just for 345 Park [Avenue] but obviously throughout the NFL and any increased security that can be recommended to make sure that we are all remaining safe or safer.”

Field conditions for Brazil game

The NFL is being mindful of the field conditions as it prepares to play a game in Brazil on the Friday of Week 1 for a second straight year.

The Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers are scheduled to play Sept. 5 at Corinthians Arena in São Paulo.

“Last year there was a lot of discussion around the field and the playing conditions,” said Dawn Aponte, the NFL’s chief football administrative officer. “And what we’ve done this year to address some of that was we have recently reseeded the entire field as well as restitched it. It is a hybrid stitch field. So we do think that there are measures that have been taken that will address some of the concerns that we did see last year.”

Ongoing discussions on the tush push

The tush push, the Philadelphia Eagles’ signature short-yardage play, remained legal for this season when the Green Bay Packers’ proposal to ban it fell two votes shy at the May owners’ meeting of the 24 needed for ratification.

The play is expected to generate ongoing discussions by the NFL competition committee and league health and safety officials in the coming months and perhaps beyond, Miller acknowledged Thursday.

“I am sure that it will continue to be an ongoing topic of conversation, both this season and in the offseason,” Miller said.

More cameras for replay rulings

The NFL says it plans to utilize a dozen fixed cameras installed in each stadium along the sidelines, goal lines and back lines of the end zones to assist this season with instant replay officiating rulings.

The additional camera angles will directly feed into the league’s instant replay center and will be made available to the on-field referee if needed.

“Those 12 cameras will be part of the instant replay process throughout the game for replay-assist, for coaches’ challenges as well as for booth reviews,” Anderson said. “And so those camera angles that we will have access to very often will help us be able either to either confirm or make decisions relative to reversing a play that in the past we just didn’t have those camera angles for. If we do use those camera angles to make a decision, then we have a process that we will send that view to our network [broadcast] partners so that they can share that view with the audience.”

Someone should notify Bill Belichick. The former New England Patriots coach said in 2014 that the league “could have a bake sale to raise some money” if needed for additional camera angles for replay