Tom Brady has thoughts on Azeez Al-Shaair’s hit on Trevor Lawrence, and they may come as a surprise, according to a source.
Brady thinks quarterbacks should take more of the blame when it comes to hits deemed late on quarterback slides. The former Patriots and Bucs quarterback addressed the issue Tuesday during an appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.”
Brady told Cowherd he had “mixed emotions” on the subject, then told a story about a lesson his teammates taught him early in his career when his helmet came off after taking a late slide.
“If you’re going to slide, you better get down,” Brady said. “These guys are coming for you.
He then commiserated with defensive players as they made split-second decisions about whether to hit the quarterback.
“Defensive players have to be aggressive,” Brady said. “That’s their nature.
“I don’t think it’s fair to the defense”
Brady essentially went on to say that quarterbacks are responsible for their own safety, which shouldn’t be solely on the linebackers tasked with stopping them.
“Quarterbacks have 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 the defensive player to protect the offensive quarterback who’s running. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense.”
Brady didn’t directly say about Lawrence and Al-Shaair, nor did he directly state that Lawrence slipped late. But he came to his conclusion in an interview about the controversial hit that rocked Lawrence and sparked a brawl between the Jaguars and the Texans.
Al-Shaair has since apologized for injuring Lawrence, but made sure his hit did not actually come. His coach, DeMeco Ryans, was vocal in his defense of Al-Shaair in a Brady-like message that put the onus on Lawrence to protect himself.
The NFL has since issued its decision. It ruled that Al-Shaair’s intervention was illegal and suspended him for three matches on Tuesday. The suspension, which cited repeated offenses by Al-Shaair, came with a sharp message from NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan.
“Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for football and all who play, coach and watch it is troubling and does not reflect the NFL’s core values,” Runyan said in a statement. “Your continued disregard for the rules of the NFL game endangers the health and safety of you and your opponents and will not be tolerated.”
So there is a lot of disagreement. But Brady’s stance was clear.
A traditional pocket passer who has become one of the biggest players despite limited mobility, Brady also thinks about who is responsible for protecting quarterbacks who often run.
“Are we really trying to protect quarterbacks?” Brady continued. “Because if you’re trying to do that through the rules, then why aren’t offensive coordinators protecting their quarterbacks by keeping them in the pocket and not designing as many quarterback runs?”
And how to fix things? Brady suggested penalizing quarterbacks when they don’t come down in time for the quarterback to drop.
“Maybe they fine or penalize the quarterback for a late shift and say, ‘Look, if we don’t want these hits to happen, we have to penalize the offense and the defense instead of just penalizing the defensive player for every single play that happens when to the intervention of the quarterback.’