NFL to Discuss Controversial Roughing the Passer Penalties, per Report

After two questionable calls in Week 5, the league is expected to reassess its handling of the penalty this week.

After not one, but two highly controversial roughing the passer calls in Week 5, the NFL’s owners plans to discuss the matter when they meet in New York this upcoming week, a source told the Associated Press.

The individual reportedly told the AP that the league is not considering a change to the roughing the passer rule during the season, but that discussions will be had about possible future adjustments to the rule that can be made. The NFL Competition Committee–comprised of six team owners/executives and four head coaches–makes the majority of recommendations for rule changes before 24 of the league’s owners are required to approve the switch.

The need for a review of the roughing the passer penalty comes after two disputed calls in the past few days, the most recent of which came on national television on Monday Night Football. Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones was flagged for landing on top of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr while in the process of recovering a strip sack fumble, negating a momentum-changing play and eventually allowing the Raiders to extend their first-half lead later in the drive.

Referee Carl Cheffers defended the call after the game, saying that Carr received “full protection of all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture.” 

“So when he was tackled, my ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight,” Cheffers said, per ESPN. “The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.”

The call involving Jones wasn’t the only controversial penalty of the weekend. On Sunday, Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was flagged for roughing the passer on Buccaneers star Tom Brady, despite making what appeared to be a rather tame sack in the backfield. The call gave Tampa an automatic first down and ultimately, the chance to seal the game, much to the dismay of those watching the final few minutes of the NFC South tilt. 

Jerome Boger, the referee who made the call, said that Jarrett was flagged for “unnecessarily throwing” Brady to the ground in the process of the play.

While it’s unclear exactly what the league can do to address roughing the passer penalties–which are down 45% from this point last year–Jones suggested that the calls should be reviewable.

“We’ve got to be able to review it in the booth, you know what I mean?” the Chiefs defensive tackle said postgame. “I think that’s the next step for the NFL as a whole. If we’re going to call it a penalty at that high (of rate), then we’ve got to be able to review it and make sure, because sometimes looks can be deceiving.”

Jones’s suggestion is unlikely, a source told the AP, given the controversy that abounded when the league made pass interference calls reviewable during the 2020 season. That specific rule was not continued the following year.

In the wake of the incident involving Dolphins signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa, the league appears to be exercising caution when it comes to protecting players, and in particular quarterbacks. According to the AP, the NFL did not give officials a directive to emphasize roughing-the-passer penalties following the concussion that Tagovailoa sustained in Week 4.

• Daily Cover: The Giants’ Recent History Is Now History