Nick Piccone
We all know Terrell Suggs’ reputation for being a dirty player. That reputation was up for interpretation on Saturday night when he hit Sam Bradford low on a read option play. After the game, Jason Peters and Sam Bradford weren’t happy. Suggs said he didn’t do anything wrong.
Here’s the play:
“If the quarterback has an option, he’s considered a runner until he either clearly doesn’t have the football or he re-establishes himself as a passer,” Blandino said. “So it’s not a foul by rule. It’s something that we’ll make sure that we cover with our game officials because the defensive end coming off the edge, he doesn’t know if the quarterback is going to keep it, he doesn’t know if he’s going to take off and run or drop back and so we treat the quarterback in that instance as a runner until he clearly re-establishes as a passer or until he clearly doesn’t have the football.”
Now, in real-time, obviously it’s hard to sit back on the couch and lament about intent. But if Suggs didn’t garner the reputation he has of being a dirty player, most would be giving him the benefit of the doubt. It doesn’t help public perception that both Jason Peters and Sam Bradford came out after the game and said Suggs had planned that and got the timing down since the Eagles and Ravens practiced all week together.
And if Blandino wasn’t caught partying on a Cowboys party bus with Jerry Jones’ son, I might not be as skeptical of his merits. But, he’s still in a position of power within the league and I don’t think many Eagles fans think the hit was so much illegal as it was dirty. Clearly a flag shouldn’t have been thrown on roughing the passer, but the hit was definitely low. I think it’s still open for interpretation.
During his press conference on Monday, Chip Kelly reiterated that specific play wasn’t a read option, and that the ruling on the field was correct. Now we’re getting into semantics and I wouldn’t be surprised if Blandino goes back at Chip to try and “set the record straight” before the regular season starts.