As promised, Brandon Meriweather is going low on tackles now

Brandon Meriweather has changed his point of focus. (The Washington Post/Getty Images) Forced by the NFL to turn away from the helmet-to-helmet hits that have

Doug Farrar | Nov 3, 2013

As promised, Brandon Meriweather is going low on tackles now /

Brandon Meriweather has changed his point of focus. (The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Forced by the NFL to turn away from the helmet-to-helmet hits that have defined his career to date, Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather vowed upon return from his recent one-game suspension -- a suspension that stemmed from two questionable hits against the Chicago Bears -- that he would have a new point of focus.

“To be honest, you’ve just got to go low now,” Meriweather said, according to ESPN 980′s Chris Russell. “You gotta end people’s careers. You gotta tear people’s ACLs. Mess up people’s knees. You can’t him them high anymore. You’ve just got to go low.”

With 5:18 left in the first half of the Redskins' game against the Chargers, San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers threw a quick pass to halfback Danny Woodhead on 1st-and-15 from the Chargers' 15-yard line. Meriweather closed in on Woodhead, and clearly went low. It was a borderline play, but Meriweather is far beyond the benefit of the doubt.

(GIF via BuzzFeed Sports)

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith spoke with Meriweather this past week about his comments. "He is passionate about the game, and I know he is sorry for what he said," Smith related in a statement. "He is concentrating on helping his team win the rest of the season. Brandon knows that all players have a responsibility to each other and to play within the rules of the game."

Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett also defended his player.

"Brandon's a good guy. He's a good person. I don't think he'll do anything that harms the team. He said something out of emotion, the way he felt. But just knowing Brandon and the way he practiced ... he'll stay within the rules and do what's best. He's not going to try and hurt our football team."

Published Nov 3, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.