Falcons punter Matt Bosher had to leave Thursday night’s game against the Browns in the first quarter with a chest injury suffered when he was blocked by Browns linebacker Tank Carder during a punt.
Carder was not penalized on the play, but Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Thursday that he thought a flag should have been thrown for the hit.
“Certainly one I looked at and I’d like to ask the league their opinion on it, ‘Is it a case of a defenseless hit or not?’'' Quinn said, via ESPN.com. “I’m going to send it in to take a look at. The main thing is Bosher is OK. Definitely took a hit and got shook up, for sure. I talked to him today [and] he’s definitely doing better. I’m not sure if he’ll be available for us this week. It’s something, I think, we’d have to go through the week and see where he’s at. He’ll be limited to start the week and we’ll go from there.”
Bosher, like all punters, is considered a defenseless player during a punt return and is therefore protected against hits to the head and neck area. Based on a review of the game tape, Carder’s shoulder makes contact with Bosher’s chest during the block, although there does seem to be some contact to the head as well.
Punters are also protected against being “unnecessarily contacted” through the end of the down or until he assumes a “distinctly defensive” position. Bosher was following the play, but was a good distance from the returner at the point of Carder’s block. Another argument could be a penalty for a peel-back block as Carder is heading toward his own end zone and approaches Bosher from the side, but he doesn’t initiate the contact from the side.
Quinn added that the team will work out a punter this week, although they may not need to sign one if Bosher is feeling better.
