New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones wasn’t a fan of the roughing the passer penalty called on Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones, after forcing a strip sack fumble on Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on Monday Night Football.
It was another head-scratcher of a call in the same week that Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman Grady Jarrett was flagged for rolling Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady to the ground.
“It was a long hug, a long unwelcome hug from Grady,” Brady said on SiriusXM’s “Let’s Go! Podcast,” via NFL.com.
Jones chimed in on the state of things from a defensive perspective with all of the ticky-tack calls.
“I get the NFL wants to protect its investment in quarterback. But you have to protect the integrity of the game,” the Patriots defensive back said.
I get the NFL wants to protect its investment in quarterback. But you have to protect the integrity of the game.
— J Jones (@justjjones) October 11, 2022
A roughing the passer flag carries a 15-yard penalty that can drastically impact the outcome of the game.
Granted, the league doesn’t want to get too conservative on those sorts of penalties with quarterbacks being defenseless in the pocket, but there has to be some middle ground where we can avoid the sort of egregious calls we saw in Week 5, too.
