Tom Brady reflected on Aziz Al-Shayer’s hit on Trevor Lawrence, and considering the source, they might come as a surprise.
Brady thinks quarterbacks should take more of the blame for late hits on quarterback slides. The former Patriots and Bucs quarterback spoke about the issue during an appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday.
Brady told Cowherd he had “mixed emotions” on the matter, then told the story of a lesson his teammates taught him early in his career when he knocked off his helmet after a late slide.
“If you’re going to slide, you’re going to go down,” Brady said his teammates told him. “These guys are coming to get you.”
He then empathizes with defensive players when they are in the position of making a split-second decision about whether to hit the quarterback.
“Defensive players have to be aggressive,” Brady said. “That’s their nature.”
Brady really continued to make the point that quarterbacks are responsible for their own protection, not relying strictly on the defenders tasked with stopping them.
“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 should be on a defensive player to protect the offensive quarterback. I don’t think it’s really fair to the defense.”
Brady didn’t directly make those comments about Lawrence and Al-Shayr, nor did he directly announce that Lawrence had slipped of late. But he reached his conclusion in a conversation about a controversial hit that frustrated Lawrence and sparked a spat between the Jaguars and the Texans.
Al-Shayr apologizes for injuring Lawrence, but hedges whether his injury was actually too late. His coach, DiMeco Ryans, vociferously defended Al-Shayr in a Brady-like message that put the onus on Lawrence to defend himself.
The NFL has since issued its ruling. It ruled Al-Shayir’s injury illegal and suspended him for three matches on Tuesday. The suspension, which cited repeated violations by Al-Shair, drew a stern message from NFL vice president of football operations John Runyan.
A traditional pocket passer who has become one of the game’s all-time greats despite limited mobility, Brady also has thoughts on who is responsible for protecting quarterbacks who often run.
“Are we really trying to protect the quarterback?” Brady continued. “Because if you’re trying to do it through the rules, why aren’t offensive coordinators protecting their quarterbacks by keeping them in the pocket and not designing a lot of quarterback runs?”
As for how to fix things? Brady suggested punishing quarterbacks when they can’t get down in time to pick off a defender.
“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 if there’s a hit on the quarterback.'”
