One of the CFL’s top pass-rushers can empathize with his NFL brethren.
Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive end Willie Jefferson has watched NFL officials penalize defenders for roughing the passer this season on plays that wouldn’t have drawn flags in previous seasons.
Like many people — including the players who were penalized for landing on quarterbacks — Jefferson isn’t a fan of the calls.
“I can see where they’re trying to take hits off the quarterback,” Jefferson said after the Roughriders practised at Mosaic Stadium. “With guys like (Ndamukong) Suh and (Aaron) Donald falling on a quarterback, that’s 300-plus pounds falling on a 200-pound quarterback — and that’s a lot.
“But that’s a part of football. That’s a part of tackling, that’s a part of sacks and that’s a part of getting to a quarterback and imposing your will. You can’t really tell somebody who’s going full speed and trying to make a proper tackle, ‘Keep your head away from the quarterback’s head, keep your body away from his knees and don’t fall on him.’ That’s asking a lot of a player who’s coming in fast.”
Green Bay Packers rush end Clay Matthews has been the poster boy for the new interpretation of the rule.
He was called for roughing the passer after landing on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins on Sept. 16 and on Washington Redskins pivot Alex Smith on Sunday. Both hits looked clean to Jefferson.
“It’s not even like he was intentionally trying to fall on the quarterback; that’s just how it is,” Jefferson said of Matthews. “If I’m running straight at you and I end up tackling you, the only way you can go is backwards and I’m going to land on you. The
re’s no way I can get out of that.
“It’s one of those things that players are going to have to get used to and one of those things that defensive coaches are going to have to teach more.”
Many observers are worried that the NFL’s new rule could have a inverse effect on the game. They point as proof to the fact that Miami Dolphins defensive lineman William Hayes suffered a season-ending knee injury when he tried to avoid landing on Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr after hitting him.
“They’re trying to make it to where the players don’t get injured as much,” Jefferson said. “But they’re trying to take away the physicality from the game — and when you try to take away something from the game when it’s already being played at a fast pace, you’re asking for somebody to get hurt.”
Defensive players in the CFL aren’t subject to the same interpretation of the roughing-the-passer rule, but that doesn’t mean they can get away with drilling quarterbacks at will. And the enforcement of the rule can be equally difficult for CFL defenders to accept.
“We can’t hit a quarterback low or we can’t make helmet-to-helmet contact — and some of the quarterbacks in this league are ducking their heads low when they know a sack is coming,” Jefferson said.
“It’s also hard on us trying to get around that edge and trying not to fall at a quarterback’s feet or me, being as tall as I am, trying to get to these quarterbacks and not hitting them in the head.”
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Many of the Roughriders will get their first live look at Johnny Manziel on Sunday when Saskatchewan visits the Montreal Alouettes (11 a.m., CKRM, TSN).
The Als’ quarterback has yet to appear in a CFL game against the Roughriders, although a number of Saskatchewan’s players faced Manziel in college or in the NFL. For the majority of the Roughriders, though, their only exposure to Manziel has been on TV.
Watching him play for the Texas A&M University Aggies, the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or the Alouettes, the Roughriders will have seen Manziel extend plays by moving around in the pocket or by taking off. They’re prepared for that.
“He’s nothing different than Vernon Adams, Jonathon Jennings and all these quarterbacks who like to get back there and run around,” Jefferson said.
“We know he can throw the ball and we know he can run the ball. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to get back there, get him off his spot, make him move around, get a couple of bad balls and finish the game.”
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Roughriders punter Josh Bartel has high hopes.
Bartel completed a pass in Saturday’s 30-29 victory over the host Toronto Argonauts, throwing to Chad Geter for a 15-yard gain out of punt formation.
Alas, the play didn’t count — Geter was deemed to be an ineligible receiver by the officials, who enforced a 10-yard penalty against the Roughriders — so Bartel remains without an official pass attempt or completion in his six-year CFL career.
That said, the 32-year-old still thought the form he showed Saturday would be enough to advance his career with the Roughriders.
“As soon as I threw the ball and (Geter) caught it, I probably thought I’d get moved up the depth chart of QB,” Bartel said, tongue firmly planted in cheek. “I think I’m actually fourth on the depth chart.
“It’s no surprise. I’ll probably be third after this game.”
He shouldn’t count on it.
“Let’s don’t let that get too carried away,” head coach-GM Chris Jones said. “He needs to stick to punting.”
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The Roughriders are to leave for Montreal early Friday morning in hopes of getting acclimated to the Eastern time zone.
On Sunday, they’ll start a game before noon Saskatchewan time for the first time this season; the contest is slated to kick off at 11 a.m., CST.
“Physiologically, we actually will be starting at exactly the time that we would start (practice in Regina),” said Jones. “It’s a 1 o’clock kickoff (Eastern time), which is 11 here, and that’s what time we get started with practice.”
