Rex Ryan shares why quarterbacks should stop sliding

Trevor Lawrence suffered a concussion during Sunday’s game when he was on the receiving end of a brutal cheap shot, and Rex Ryan believes the play should serve as evidence that quarterbacks need to stop sliding so much.

During Monday’s edition of “Get Up” on ESPN, Ryan broke into a fiery rant urging coaches to stop instructing quarterbacks to slide when they have a defender coming at them. The former coach thinks quarterbacks should dive at the defender’s ankles instead.

“I am so sick and tired of seeing people teach, ‘Hey, slide. When you’re running out here, you slide.’ The hell you do!” Ryan said. “Not when you’re going full speed down the field and the defender’s coming full speed at you. You don’t slide. This happens over and over and over again. … I’m sick and tired of it.

“You are not protecting your quarterback when you teach him how to slide when it’s not in the open field. Open field, of course, that’s great. Absolutely not here. If you want to get a concussion, you slide like this when contact’s coming. They should be taught to dive at the ankles of the defender. Or, run the football and take your head out of it.”

Rex Ryan: "I am so sick and tired of seeing people teach, 'Hey, slide. When you're running out here, you slide.' To hell you do. Not when you're going full speed down the field and the defender's coming full speed at you… they should be taught to dive at the ankles of the… pic.twitter.com/JUiJI3k7mF

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 2, 2024

Ryan’s theory is that a defender will be more likely to try to defend himself if the quarterback dives head first. While Rex agreed that Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s ruthless hit on Lawrence was dirty, the ESPN analyst said he has seen other plays where a quarterback suffers a head injury by sliding too late after the defender had already begun the tackle.

Sliding is universally viewed as the best way for a quarterback to protect himself, but there are plenty of players who give themselves up by falling forward instead. We see if often with Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and other mobile quarterbacks. Ryan feels that strategy should be coached more.

The NFL on Tuesday announced disciplinary action against Al-Shaair for the hit on Lawrence.