Sort of, as soon as the ball is there the defender can try to catch the ball or knock it down and tackle the receiver, and they can bump him once within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. And the defender can get in the way, the receiver can't push the defender out of the way, that's a different penalty, offensive pass interference.
The rules used to be different, only holding the receiver was interference, they could bump each other all they wanted, and tackle him within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage as long as they let him get back up. They switched that to bumping, then shortened the distance to 10 yards, and now 5 yards.
Sort of, as soon as the ball is there the defender can try to catch the ball or knock it down and tackle the receiver, and they can bump him once within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. And the defender can get in the way, the receiver can't push the defender out of the way, that's a different penalty, offensive pass interference.
The rules used to be different, only holding the receiver was interference, they could bump each other all they wanted, and tackle him within 20 yards of the line of scrimmage as long as they let him get back up. They switched that to bumping, then shortened the distance to 10 yards, and now 5 yards.
Nothing like constantly changing rules to piss everyone off.