Tom Brady has thoughts on Azeez Al-Shaair’s hit on Trevor Lawrence, and they might arrive as a surprise, considering the source.
Brady thinks quarterbacks should shoulder more of the blame when it comes to hits deemed late on quarterback slides. The former Patriots and Bucs quarterback spoke about the topic during an appearance with “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday.
Brady told Cowherd that he has “mixed emotions” on the topic, then told the story of a lesson his teammates taught him early in his career when he got his helmet knocked off after sliding late.
“If you’re gonna slide, you better get down,” Brady said his teammates told him. “These guys are coming to get you.”
He then expressed sympathy with defensive players when they’re in a position of making split-second decisions on whether to hit a quarterback.
“Defensive players have to be aggressive,” Brady said. “That’s their nature.”
‘I don’t think that’s fair to the defense’
Brady continued matter of factly that quarterbacks are responsible for their own safety, which shouldn’t be strictly up to defenders tasked with stopping them.
“The quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves,” Brady said. … “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. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense.”
Brady didn’t make that comment directly about Lawrence and Al-Shaair, nor did he directly declare that Lawrence slid late. But he reached his conclusion in a conversation about the controversial hit that concussed Lawrence and sparked a brawl between the Jaguars and Texans.
Al-Shaair has since apologized for injuring Lawrence, but hedged on whether his hit was actually late. His coach, DeMeco Ryans, full-throatedly defended Al-Shaair in a message similar to Brady’s that put the onus on Lawrence to protect himself.
The NFL has since issued its ruling. It deemed Al-Shaair’s hit illegal and suspended him Tuesday for three games. The suspension, which cited repeated infractions by Al-Shaair, came with a stark message from NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan.
“Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL,” Runyan’s statement reads. “Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated.”
So there’s plenty of disagreement here. But Brady’s stance was clear.
A traditional pocket passer who became one of the game’s all-time greats despite limited mobility, Brady also has thoughts on who’s responsible for protecting quarterbacks who do frequently run.
“Are we really trying to protect quarterbacks?” Brady continued. “Because if you are trying to do it through the rules, then why are the offensive coordinators not protecting their quarterbacks by keeping them in the pocket and not designing as many quarterback runs?”
As for how to fix things? Brady suggested penalizing quarterbacks when they don’t get down in time for a defender to pull back.
“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 got to penalize the offense and the defense rather than just penalize a defensive player for every single play that happens when there’s a hit on a quarterback.'”