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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer
The NFL acted swiftly earlier this month when Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence sustained a season-ending concussion at the end of a slide intended to protect him from violent contact.
The league ejected Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for the hit, suspended him for three games and then saw the discipline upheld on appeal by an arbitrator selected jointly with the NFL Players Association.
The verdict was clear. Al-Shaair’s hit in Week 13 violated the NFL rulebook, which prohibits a defender from making forcible contact to the head or neck area of any ball carrier who is sliding.
That did not stop a surge of pushback from coaches and players, both active and retired. They bemoaned Al-Shaair’s predicament as much the concussion that landed Lawrence on injured reserve.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, a former All-Pro linebacker himself, said quarterbacks “try to take advantage of the rule and they slide late and they try to get an extra yard.” Hall of Fame offensive lineman Joe Thomas posted on X that the league must “get the weaponized quarterback slide out of the game.”
This hit was malicious and has no place in our game…
But the NFL needs to get the “weaponized quarterback slide” out of the game.
As dangerous as hits on a quarterback are when the quarterback chooses to slide, we need to stop allowing quarterbacks to fake slide or late slide… https://t.co/6sRYCqeRWQ
— Joe Thomas (@joethomas73) December 3, 2024
Al-Shaair, who signed with the Texans in the offseason, apologized to Lawrence in a statement “for what ended up happening” the next morning and added that he didn’t see Lawrence sliding until it was “too late.”
As Al-Shaair regains his eligibility this week and defensive players and coaches continue to grapple with a set of rules many of them believe are hard to navigate, a lingering issue remains over how the league litigates its quarterback protection rules. An NFL source said no rule changes are coming despite the issues, and some defenders have accepted that they must subordinate their instincts to avoid major penalties, fines and suspensions.
“We all understand the quarterback position and how they’re going to protect that position,” Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores said. “And they should. It’s a vital position for the entire game. We just coach our guys if it’s close, stay off the guy.”
NFL DEFENDERS HAVE been vocal about two issues with quarterbacks in the wake of Al-Shaair’s hit on Lawrence: Late slides and fake attempts to run out of bounds. Both, they say, are efforts to gain extra yards based on the theory defenders will be hesitant to hit them for fear of a penalty.
The issue of late slides entered the public square in 2018, when the NFL tried to stop quarterbacks from using head-first slides to gain extra yardage.
Beginning with that season, officials were instructed to spot the ball on any slide — head first or feet first — wherever he first touched the ground. Retired quarterback Matt Ryan, now a CBS analyst, said he used head-first slides to gain extra yardage on scrambles but also said he thought they were safer. Lawrence appeared to suffer the injury when the back of his head hit the grass at EverBank Stadium after he was unable to brace for a blow from Al-Shaair’s left forearm.
The NFL rulebook puts the responsibility of timely slides on the quarterback. Per Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1(d): “A runner who desires to take advantage of this protection is responsible for starting his slide before contact by a defensive player is imminent; if he does not and waits until the last moment to begin his slide, he puts himself in jeopardy of being contacted.”
Whether contact is “imminent” remains a judgment call for officials that can vary from crew to crew. In Week 15, for instance, officials penalized Philadelphia Eagles safety Reed Blankenship for unnecessary roughness after what appeared to be a late slide by Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. Blankenship’s contact came as Fields began his slide. The NFL did not issue a fine for the infraction, indicating it did not believe the penalty was warranted.
Retired quarterback Tom Brady, now a Fox Sports analyst, said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”: “I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who is running should be on a defensive player.” But Brady also acknowledged that “the quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves.”
The timing of Lawrence’s slide was irrelevant because Al-Shaair hit him in the head. Even if the contact would have been to Lawrence’s torso had he remained upright, it is the responsibility of the defender to avoid the head or neck area.
“That’s very similar to the hits on receivers where they’re airborne and you start by aiming at their waist,” Walt Anderson, the NFL’s officiating rules analyst, said. “But by the time he gets to the ground, you hit him in the head. Unfortunately, the strict liability is on the defender to avoid the contact to the head or neck area. And when you think about it, I mean, it really would be putting the officials in a position to have to factor all of that kind of stuff in real time.
“So whether it’s a hit on a sliding player, a hit on a receiver, even when we talk about the hits out of bounds or roughing the passer, it’s always the responsibility of the defender to avoid the head and neck area when that part of the body would put him at risk of a foul.”
Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., in his sixth season, doesn’t think there are enough instances of quarterbacks blatantly pushing the rules to merit widespread reaction or changes.
“I feel like most of them are pretty smart at sliding,” Murphy said. “I wouldn’t say they’re trying to take advantage of it. Sometimes you have a quarterback that tries to act like they’re sliding but they keep going. I’ve seen it a couple times but not as much. They’re definitely trying to slide in full most of the time. The same for the sideline. Most of the time they’re going out of bounds.”
It’s easy to suggest defenders simply avoid forcible contact with quarterbacks in the open field, as Flores suggested. But “nobody wants to be embarrassed by a quarterback,” Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said.
Some quarterbacks will slide as a matter of course as defenders approach, but others — including the Buffalo Bills‘ Josh Allen and the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Patrick Mahomes — will seek extra yards.
Anderson said a “true fake slide,” where a quarterback bends his knees and simulates going to the ground, should result in officials marking him down where the fake began. Rarely is the attempt that obvious, however.
“Quarterbacks do test their limits,” Franklin said. “They do little fake stuff with their hips to fake a slide. They slow down, speed up. They do. It is a game within the game, too, so they got to take responsibility as well.”
PRIOR TO THE 2023 season, the NFL’s competition committee reminded quarterbacks they could be legally hit near the sideline if they had not stepped out of bounds — even if they were hovering over the painted white marker at the time of contact. It was a response to a proliferation of quarterbacks heading toward the sideline, anticipating defenders would relax, and then turning up field again before stepping out of bounds.
A series of videos were distributed to each team, Anderson said, making the point clear.
“A lot of times the quarterbacks were running down the sideline, trying to get as much yardage as they can, and then at the very last minute they’ll step out,” Anderson said. “That defender has got to make a decision. We’ve put plays on the videos where if the defender is committed to making what otherwise would be a legal tackle, and he’s committed to that, and at the last minute the quarterback decides to step out and he ends up getting contacted, and he’s over the white [line], but has not yet stepped out of bounds, that’s a legal hit by the defender.”
There have been several instances this season of quarterbacks getting hit near or over the sideline with no flags thrown. Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell hit Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in a similar situation during Week 13, after Lions coach Dan Campbell reminded his defenders that Williams had previously tried to continue upfield after getting near the sideline.
“He goes, ‘If he does this, we’re going to hit his a**. I already warned the refs, the refs know.'”
Amon-Ra St. Brown said Dan Campbell told the Lions to hit Caleb Williams if he’s not clearly going out of bounds. pic.twitter.com/lI3neK7LlI
— St. Brown Podcast (@StBrownPodcast) December 4, 2024
Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, meanwhile, hit Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as he strained toward the sideline in Week 16. Even Al-Shaair was ruled to have legally hit the Bears’ Williams on the sideline in Week 2, although he was fined $11,817 for punching Bears running back Roschon Johnson during a fight that began after the hit.
“If you hit a quarterback by the sidelines you’re really just giving yourself a flag,” Murphy said. “You might as well get to the other side of that and let him go out of bounds. And if a few extra yards is what it’s going to take instead of a 15-yard penalty, then that’s what you do.”
The effects of that mindset, shared by many around the league, can be seen on a weekly basis. Franklin noted a play in Week 13 when New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye took off on a scramble toward the right sideline, with Colts defensive lineman Raekwon Davis in pursuit.
“[Davis] ran maybe 30 yards to go push him out of bounds,” Franklin said. “Big Raekwon is like 320 [pounds]. It’s hard for him to stop. So he tried to just push him out of bounds, and Drake takes an extra 6 yards. Now, if he’d have put his shoulder in his ribs and knocked him to the sideline, into the stands, everybody would’ve had a problem with it. So it’s just like we got to figure out just the boundaries.”
GIVING UP EXTRA yards has been the decision for Flores and the Vikings instead of risking giving up an unnecessary roughness penalty, or worse.
“If you feel like you’ve got to get the guy down, or he is going to continue to run, then you tackle him,” Flores said. “Obviously stay away from the head, neck and shoulder area if he’s sliding, but sometimes those are bang-bang plays.”
Flores’ defense, which ranks No. 2 in the NFL in expected points added per play, is one of four defenses that has not been flagged for unnecessary roughness this season.
Speaking last week, Flores supported quarterbacks who push the line of NFL rules.
“That happens, and it should happen,” Flores said. “It’s a situation where you can get a couple extra yards because they understand their position. If it’s close, there’s a potential that the defensive player can get a call, and they back off a little bit and they get a couple extra yards. There’s a few of them that do that but not enough to make a big deal about it.”
Franklin noted there are ways to play under control to minimize the chances of a penalty for hitting the head and neck area of a sliding quarterback, or hitting them out of bounds.
“Playing with your eyes up and not ducking your head,” Franklin said. “I’ve had a couple of similar situations that I’ve been close, but I feel like because I went into it with good technique, I was able to avoid the flag, avoid the fine and I was able to move on from it.”
The safest approach for defenders?
“For the most part,” Murphy said, “just stay away.”
Under Ryans, the Texans will continue to be a physical team, and, along with Ryans, general manager Nick Caserio backed Al-Shaair — who resumed practice this week — for his play and character. Whether or not Lawrence slid late, their collision provided an opportunity for coaches and players around the league to seek more of a middle ground as defenders try to keep quarterbacks from gaining extra yards.
“I probably speak for a lot of teams, not only the Houston Texans,” Caserio said, “but I think that’s all teams ask for is consistency from the league.”