The Patriots breathed a big sigh of relief on Sunday night when tight end Rob Gronkowski’s knee injury turned out to be one that will keep him out for weeks rather than months.
Seeing him go down after taking a shot to the knee surely brought up memories of the torn ACL he suffered in 2013 when then-Browns safety T.J. Ward hit him in the knee and Gronkowski’s quarterback would like to see more protections put in place in hopes of seeing receivers avoid serious knee injuries in the future.
At his Wednesday press conference, Brady was asked about throws that lead receivers into hits and how much he takes that into account when delivering his passes. Brady said it was something he thinks about, but added that he thinks that rules barring certain hits against defenseless receivers should be extended to cover shots to the legs.
“I think it’s obviously a contact sport. Guys are going to get hit,” Brady said in comments distributed by the team. “You hate to see one of your guys take hits, and I do think they should change some of those rules with those defenseless receivers. I don’t think there’s anything different than a chop block. I mean, everyone else has their legs protected in the NFL. Quarterbacks get their legs protected. Defensive linemen get their legs protected. Linebackers get their legs protected. I don’t see why a defenseless receiver shouldn’t get his legs protected as well, so maybe that’s something they’ll look at in the offseason.”
Brady acknowledged earlier this week that defensive players go low in the modern NFL because of the rules against hitting a defenseless receiver in the head and neck. Making hits to the legs illegal as well would make it even harder for defenders to use their bodies to jar balls loose from receivers, but the injuries suffered by players like Gronkowski, Dustin Keller and others show how dangerous they can be to receivers with little to no ability to protect themselves.
Those injuries didn’t lead to any changes in league rules in the last couple of years, although it could come up again if enough teams share Brady’s feeling that it’s something that needs to change in the name of increased player safety.
