MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Found this article on PFT... check it out.

The hit that broke Aaron Rodgers‘ collarbone on Sunday wasn’t illegal. Maybe it should be.

Vikings outside linebacker Anthony Barr hit Rodgers just after Rodgers released a pass, and the two of them tumbled to the turf with Barr on top of Rodgers. That rather ordinary hit broke Rodgers’ collarbone and dramatically affected the entire NFL season, possibly knocking Rodgers out until 2018 and in the process ending realistic Super Bowl hopes for the Packers.


I think it may be time for a radical rule change, one that makes hits like Barr’s illegal. It may be time for the NFL to consider dramatically expand the roughing the passer rules, and treat quarterbacks like kickers and punters: Basically, you can’t hit them at all once they’ve thrown a pass.

I know, I know, you’re going to tell me I’m soft and weak and ruining the game of football, and that we might as well just play flag football if we’re going to do that. And I’m here to tell you I’ve heard it all before.

I heard the same thing when the NFL changed the roughing the passer rules to prohibit low hits on quarterbacks after Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2008: “How can defensive players possibly be expected to avoid those hits?” But defensive players adjusted, and it’s now unremarkable that those hits are penalized.

And I heard the same thing when the NFL implemented the horse-collar tackle rule: “How can any defensive player ever catch a runner from behind?” But defensive players adjusted, and now the horse-collar tackle rule has been adopted at every level of football and is completely noncontroversial.

I believe the same thing would happen if the NFL dramatically changed the roughing the passer rule. Yes, at first it would seem wrong to see defensive players penalized for putting a shoulder in a quarterback’s chest after he throws a pass. But defensive players would get used to it, coaches would get used to it, and fans would get used to it.

And it would make the game safer for the quarterbacks, the most important players on the field. Is it really a good thing for the NFL that Aaron Rodgers might miss the entire season? Are hits like Barr’s really so fundamental to football that we can’t outlaw them for the health of quarterbacks and the good of the sport? I don’t think so.

The NFL already protects quarterbacks far more than it did when I was growing up as a football fan in the 1980s. But the league can do more. Roughing the passer needs to be expanded.
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Too me, this is just ridiculous. Whats next for the QB's, two-handed tap?

I'm a life-long Packer hater, that's no secret, but it was a shame Rodgers had his color bone broken. I don't like to see injuries of any kind, even on my worst enemies team, lol.

The fact that this hit by Anthony Barr is getting so much attention is just because one of the prominent faces of the game was injured, possibly for the rest of the season, but the point remains, this is football... a dangerous and violent sport... stuff happens.

Its just because its Rodgers is why, in my opinion it gets all the coverage. Where's the out-cry for anyone else that goes down? Does it always have to be the Brady's and Rodgers' of the League?

I saw the hit live and watched the replay's... it was a football play. Very unfortunate for Rodgers, but legal non the less.

If rules are going to be changed every time a QB goes down, where do you draw the line. How long before the NFL turns into a mamby pamby league? Maybe Rodgers should have released the football quicker or just abandoned the play earlier and slid. That's what the QB is supposed to do, right? I think it was just a case of misfortune and bad luck, not a case of an over-aggressive linebacker.

By the way... if a rule existed prohibiting such a hit, would Rodgers still have suffered a broken bone?

 

Mike Zimmer doesn’t think Anthony Barr’s hit on Aaron Rodgers was “dirty”

Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr‘s hit on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers might have been a lot of things (including season-changing for the league and the Packers).

But according to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, it wasn’t “dirty.”


“We’re playing football,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. “It’s unfortunate that he got hurt but I think everything was above board. We’re not a dirty football team. We’ll never be a dirty football team as long as I’m here. We’re going to play within the rules and sometimes things happen.”

The thing that happened was a broken collarbone, which will require surgery and may end the season of the former MVP. And that’s bad news for a team that hoped to contend for a title and a league which has already lost stars such as Odell Beckham Jr. and J.J. Watt for the year.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy disagreed with Zimmer’s take, saying Barr went too far by drilling Rodgers into the ground after he threw.

“He’s out of the pocket, he’s clearly expecting to get hit, but to pin him to the ground like that, I think was an illegal act,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t like the hit. It was totally unnecessary in my opinion.”

Opinions in Wisconsin and Minnesota will likely vary wildly, and come down along party lines.

 

Mariota could save the Titans season, but they better play some defense.

After missing a game-and-a-half due to a hamstring injury, Marcus Mariota returned to the lineup for the Titans on Monday night. While he clearly wasn’t his complete self, Mariota still completed 22 of 32 passes for 306 yards with a touchdown and an interception against the Colts.

 

Mitch Trubisky

There isn’t anything eye-popping about the numbers Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky compiled during Sunday’s 27-24 overtime win against the Ravens, but that isn’t how the Bears are defining the rookie’s performance at this point.

They saw growth from Trubisky over his first start in terms of knowing when not to take risks that could come back to haunt them. Trubisky threw a late interception against the Vikings that helped send the Bears to a defeat, but threw similar balls away against the Ravens and earned praise from coach John Fox for corralling a bad snap in the end zone in time to escape trouble.


“Those are really good decisions,” Fox said, via the Chicago Tribune. “[Six throwaways] beats six interceptions, for sure. … If you look at the snap over his head in the end zone, all right, there’s probably only five or six or seven quarterbacks in this league that could get out of that. I think Mitch played outstanding. Did he throw the ball 45 times? No. To me that doesn’t define outstanding.”

When the Bears are running and playing defense they way they did against Baltimore, there’s no reason to ask Trubisky to put the ball in the air that often or to take any big risks when he does. Special teams breakdowns kept the Ravens in the game, which isn’t ideal but it’s a step up from watching the quarterback’s turnovers do the same thing in the first four weeks of the season.

 

It's a small sample size but I believe Trubisky is leading the league in deep pass completions.

 

Alex Smith Says Mike Mitchell Hit to Knees in Week 6 'As Flagrant as It Gets'

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith didn't hold back his thoughts on a hit by Pittsburgh Steelers safety Mike Mitchell that drew a roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter of Pittsburgh's 19-13 win on Sunday.

"I felt like it was extremely late," Smith said, per ESPN.com's Adam Teicher. "I felt there was nothing done there to avoid contact. It was really low from the backside. I thought it was about as flagrant as it gets when it comes to a low hit on the quarterback."

After Smith had already released the ball on a 37-yard pass to Kareem Hunt, Mitchell appeared to lunge at Smith's right knee.

Mitchell told reporters after the game he didn't purposefully hit Smith low but had instead lost his balance and couldn't stop himself from making contact with Smith's knee.

"If you watch the tape, I'm even trying to turn my body as I'm falling," Mitchell said, per ESPN.com's Jeremy Fowler. "Alex is back pedaling into me, I wasn't even going in the direction of Alex. He's actually throwing it and fading away. There are a lot of things that go into the play that make it an accident you don't want to see."

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday he agreed with the referee's decision to flag Mitchell for roughing passer since it violated the league rules on hitting quarterbacks low, according to 247Sports' Bryan DeArdo. Tomlin also defended Mitchell, saying he didn't think the veteran safety purposefully tried to injure Smith.

Teicher noted the NFL has fined Mitchell twice for unnecessary roughness and that he could face another fine from the league resulting from Sunday's game.

 

That PFT articule (Florio?) is just silly. Quarterbacks are football players too.

 

During the game I thought it was dirty as hell, but the more I watch it again he was pushed into him. His reputation is against him though, and Smith has every right to be pissed. A late, low hit is illegal and dangerous. Luckily Smith avoided injury. Mitchell's wallet will be lighter, and he's approaching suspension territory. I don't think he will this time because the tape will show he was shoved into Smith.

 

Alex Smith/Mike Mitchell...

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has been vocal about his distaste for the late hit to the back of his knees that he took from Steelers safety Mike Mitchell in last week’s game and the league reportedly agrees with Smith’s feeling that “it was about as flagrant as it gets when it comes to a low hit on the quarterback.”

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Mitchell has been fined $48,620 by the league as a result of the hit.


Mitchell said earlier this week that he’s not a dirty player and said that linebacker Anthony Chickillo‘s hand on his back sent him into Smith’s legs while Smith was stepping backward after throwing a pass. Video of the play does show that Chickillo’s hand is on Mitchell’s back, but whether there was enough contact to account for Mitchell’s hit is in the eye of the beholder.

Schefter reports that Mitchell is appealing the fine, so he’ll be hoping that the beholder that matters sees things the same way he does.

 

Teddy Bridgewater...


AP
Teddy Bridgewater met with the media on Thursday for the first time since his return to practice and opened up his comments by saying it’s been a “long 14 months” since the knee injury that derailed his career as the Vikings quarterback.

Bridgewater’s rehab and recovery has certainly been an extended one, but the quarterback said that he “didn’t feel rusty at all” when he got back on the field with the team on Wednesday. Bridgewater called that a “mini-milestone” while echoing much of what coach Mike Zimmer said about still needing to see how things go on the field before coming up with a plan about the next steps in the process.


Bridgewater took a different path when it came to a question about whether he’ll play this season. Bridgewater said he “definitely” believes that he’ll get into a game before the year is out, although he also said he’s “not looking that far down the road” when the topic of when he sees himself playing was broached by reporters.

Bridgewater’s return to practice opened a three-week window for him to practice before the team has to make a choice about adding him to their active roster.

 

Winston will start...

Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston‘s shoulder injury won’t cause him to miss any games.

Winston, who suffered the injury in last week’s loss to the Cardinals, will start on Sunday against the Bills. Bucs coach Dirk Koetter confirmed today that Winston is good to go.


After getting some rest in practice early in the week, Winston did more throwing today and apparently came out of the session feeling good enough that the Bucs are confident he can go.

Through five games this year Winston has a career-high passer rating of 91.0. After he left Sunday’s game, backup Ryan Fitzpatrick acquitted himself nicely, coming into the game with the Bucs trailing 24-0 and nearly leading a historic comeback. The Bucs ultimately fell short and lost 38-33.

 

Texans lead NFL in scoring since Deshaun Watson became starting quarterback

Since Deshaun Watson became Houston’s starting quarterback in Week Two, the Texans have scored more points than any other team in the NFL. The Texans have scored 170 points since Week Two, five more than the Chiefs, who have scored the next-most — and the Chiefs did it in one more game because that includes the 30 points the Chiefs scored on Thursday night.


But even that 170 points since Week Two understates just how much of an impact Watson has had on the Texans’ offense because his first start came on a short work week on a Thursday night in Week Two, and that night the Texans won by a score of 13-9.

Since Week Three, when Watson got his first start with a full week to prepare, the Texans have scored 157 points — 19 more than the second-place Chiefs who, again, have played one more game than the Texans over the same time period.

Watson has 14 touchdown passes over the last four weeks. No other player has more than 10. Watson also leads all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards, with 202.

In a short period of time, the Texans’ offense has gone from incompetent with Savage under center to sensational with Watson running the show. There’s no question that Watson is a dynamic young talent. The only question is, what the hell was O’Brien thinking starting the season with Watson on the bench?

 

Dolphins confirm multiple cracked ribs for Jay Cutler...

 

Patrick Mahomes...

Everyone knows it’s just a matter of time before Patrick Mahomes supplants Alex Smith as the quarterback of the Chiefs. And even though Smith is having one of the best years of his carer, anticipation is building for the debut of Mahomes.

Fueling the anticipation? High praise from key offensive players like tight end Travis Kelce.


“Pat’s right there trying to learn everything he can from Alex and Alex is trying to help him out as much as he can,” Kelce said in an interview that aired on Wednesday’s PFT Live. “But I think what Alex has done best is he’s been running this offense to a ‘T.’ So he’s showing Patrick just how to execute it and what Mahomes does in practice is just unbelievable. I mean what kind of behind-the-scenes stuff that you guys haven’t seen on Sundays is Mahomes is getting better, getting more fluent, getting more comfortable just being a professional athlete and understanding the scheme and the timing, how long the seasons are, stuff like that. He’s gauging all this stuff and I think when he gets on the field eventually knowing that he is going to get the keys to the car eventually, everyone knows that, and when he does I can’t wait to see just how good he is.”

That assessment makes an inherently awkward situation even more potentially awkward, but Smith continues to help his potential replacement prepare to replace him.

“I mean, Alex is the ultimate leader,” Kelce said. “He’s the ultimate competitor but at the same time he’s the ultimate teammate. That’s what the best leaders do is that they make guys around them better, and right now he’s helping Mahomes understand just how to be an NFL professional. Alex knows how it feels to have that much pressure and really not have that much success in your first couple years. So I mean for him to go through all of that I’m sure he would hate to see Mahomes have to go through what he went through at San Fran. I think it was six or seven offensive coordinators over there that he had before he came to Kansas City. He went through the works over there and I honestly think that he’s the ultimate teammate and embraces that, ‘You know what? While I’m here I’m still ballin, I’m still doing my thing, I know this is my ship to drive right now and why not help out the future and help out this kid grasp his professionalism?'”

 

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers likely won’t be playing football any time soon, flowery reports of a possible return in December notwithstanding.

Rodgers tells Conan O’Brien of TBS that Rodgers had 13 screws inserted into his collarbone.


The screws go along with a plate that holds the collarbone together. The fact that the plate is big enough to require that many screws means that the break was bad enough to require a fairly large plate.

In some cases, the hardware is eventually removed. Whether Rodgers keeps the plate and screws or later has them taken out, this one seems like a more serious fracture than other collarbone injuries endured by other quarterbacks in recent years. And with Rodgers suffering the fracture in the clavicle that abuts his throwing arm, questions surely will linger regarding when he’ll return to full strength.

With a team that may not be built to stay in contention in his absence and a contract that no longer reflects anything close to his true market value, there’s little incentive for Rodgers to risk a premature return.

 

13 screws? Sounds like a shatter more than just a simple break.

 

I got 13 screws last night. Man that Cialis is long lasting.

 

You couldn't get 13 screws if you borrowed 14 peckers.

 

Joe Flacco out with a concussion...

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco will not return after being diagnosed with a concussion. He remained in the locker room for the start of the second half.

Flacco also had his right ear split open and was having it stitched.


Flacco was injured late in the second half on an illegal hit by Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso. Alonso hit Flacco as he slid feet first near the first-down marker.

Alonso was penalized half the distance to the goal — 6 yards — for unnecessary roughness, but the hit was not deemed flagrant by officials. He remained in the game.

 

A little late don't you think? lol