Tom Brady decided to join the debate about Trevor Lawrence and safety in the NFL after the quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars received a brutal hit from Azeez Al-Shaair during the game against the Texans.
Al-Shaair was suspended three games and has sparked a great discussion about quarterback slides in the league. This episode could definitely produce a change in the rules.
In a very surprising statement by Brady, the legend emphasized that it’s not easy for defensive players to slow down when stars like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen sometimes fake the slide to take advantage while running.
What happened with Trevor Lawrence?
Trevor Lawrence had to leave the game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans after a hit in the head/neck area by Azeez Al-Shaair. During an interview with The Herd, Tom Brady said sometimes all the blame should not be on defensive players.
“The quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves. I’ve seen Josh Allen run it a lot, I’ve seen Lamar Jackson run a lot. It’s a great skill set to have. At the same time, when you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. When you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on the defensive player. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense.”
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Is Trevor Lawrence concussed?
Trevor Lawrence suffered a concussion after that late hit by Al-Shair. In the middle of this huge controversy, Brady admitted responsibility is also on the offensive side of the ball.
“For a playcaller, there’s more designed runs for quarterbacks now than ever in the history of the NFL. So, are we really trying to protect quarterbacks? 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?”
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About what should happen in the future with these hits, Tom Brady proposed a very surprising solution. “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.”
