There have been a lot of strong opinions expressed about the hit that left Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence with a concussion on Sunday, but you may be surprised to hear what Tom Brady had to say about the play.
Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been suspended three games for delivering a blow to Lawrence’s head and neck area after Lawrence had gone into a slide. Many people were outraged by the hit, but Brady had a different take.
During a Tuesday appearance on “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd, Brady spoke about how quarterbacks need to do a better job of protecting themselves.
“When you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. And when you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on a defensive player,” Brady said. “I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense. Everyone can argue was it black and white or is it just a gray area. Did you slide late or was it unnecessary roughness? Or is it a late hit? To me, a late hit is very late.
“There’s quarterbacks that I see running and tiptoeing on the sideline, and they’re not even out of bounds and they get hit as they’re starting to step out of bounds and there’s a penalty flag thrown.”
Brady then spoke about how offenses are calling more designed plays than ever for quarterbacks, which increases the risk of injury. The seven-time Super Bowl champion then even suggested that the NFL should consider fining offensive players who start their slide too late.
“Maybe they fine or penalize a quarterback for sliding late and say, ‘Look, if we don’t want these hits to take place, we’ve gotta penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize the defense for every single play that happens when there’s a hit on a quarterback,” Brady said.
You can hear the full context of Brady’s remarks:
Brady has shared similar remarks about unnecessary roughness penalties and fines in the past. He said last year that the NFL has gone too soft with its rules and created bad habits for offensive players. He even had a complaint like that while he was still playing.
While working as an analyst for FOX this season, Brady was critical of an officiating crew for ejecting a defensive player over an illegal hit.
