Panthers veteran Jadeveon Clowney shares his take on the Trevor Lawrence hit

Carolina's long-time NFL veteran Jadeveon Clowney can see both sides to the story.

Tim Weaver | Dec 6, 2024

Nov 24, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers linebacker Jadeveon Clowney (7) runs on to the field with the american flag before the game at Bank of America Stadium. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

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Carolina Panthers

Fair or not, there's one set of rules in the NFL for star quarterbacks and another set for everybody else. That can be frustrating for defensive players, who have to be mindful not to land on quarterbacks when they sack them, not to hit them at all when they're sliding and not to breathe on them too hard if they've won a Super Bowl.

Then again it's also important to protect the biggest names in the sport from getting injured, and you definitely can't do what Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair did to Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence this past week. Al-Shaair's late hit as Lawrence was sliding knocked Lawrence out of the game and also put him on the sideles for the rest of the season. Al-Shaair has been suspended three games by the NFL for the sin.

While the league is right to protect QBs it's also inconsistent and capricious enforcing those rules - as Cam Newton can attest to - having taken tons of illegal hits that were not flagged during his career. The state of affairs is also unfair to some defensive players who aren't dirty but may get penalized for simply trying to make a tackle in a bang-bang play. That's what Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney thinks, anyway. Here's his take.

Jadeveon Clowney on Trevor Lawrence hit

Jadeveon Clowney shares his perspective on what defenders are asked to do when quarterbacks scramble. He’s been on both sides — hitting someone and getting a fine, letting QBs run free for a game-changing/sealing play.

“The game is made for the offense to score points.” pic.twitter.com/Llup9IEM9U
— Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05) December 5, 2024

The NFL is not going to stop going out of its way to protect their franchise quarterbacks anytime soon, but they can adjust the rulebook to be a little more fair to the defense in general. One change that's long overdue is some solution to the problem of underthrown passes drawing defensive pass interference flags. We won't hold our breath waiting on that one, though.