5yards

Offside

Defense jumps early. Also called encroachment or neutral zone infraction.

What you see. A defender is in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped, or jumps early.
Typical result. 5 yards.
Easy mix-up. False start is the offense moving early.
On the field. Usually the defensive line. See defense positions and the plays.

The flag is on the defense.

Yardage is from the 2026 NFL distance lists. Hand signals live in the official signals PDF. Independent fan guide, not a league ruling.