NFL Considers Ejections for Roughing the Passer Penalties

In recent seasons, the NFL has tried to crack down on roughing the passer scenarios as well as hitting a defenseless receiver. 

They might be going even further now, as The Associated Press reports the league is considering ejections for roughing the passer penalties and hits on a defenseless player. 

An NFL owners’ meeting, which included discussions about possibly reviewing roughing-the-passer penalties, took place on Wednesday. 

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The New England Patriots’ Mack Wilson Sr. is called for roughing the passer as he hits the Detroit Lions’ Jared Goff.
(Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“The officials, I must say, have been pretty consistent with and very accurate when making that call,” NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, an ex-player, said Wednesday. “But they’re human.”

If any changes were to be made, they would come after this season. Vincent added that it would be interesting to see what would fall into the category of a possible ejection. 

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“It’s a personal foul and there’s a ton of fouls in that category,” Vincent said. “Where does it end? Again, the most impactful play in football is pass interference. Now we start including the personal foul. But that’s why we’ll discuss it. I’ll be looking forward to this discussion.”

Vincent is skeptical about it, but the discussions will be had. NFL players certainly want that to happen. 

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson reacts to a roughing the passer call against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 28, 2021.
(Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Many have voiced their frustrations with roughing the passer specifically, as it cost the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the season when Grady Jarrett was flagged on a sack of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, which was called a personal foul. The Bucs just ran out the clock from there for the win. 

It could have cost the Kansas City Chiefs when Chris Jones sacked Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and referees called him after it appeared he dropped all his weight on Carr, which is one of the things referees are looking for before throwing their flag. 

Instead, Jones had the ball in his hands on what replay showed was a fumble. But because it wasn’t a reviewable play, the Raiders moved up 15 yards. 

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“I think roughing the passer, they had put such an emphasis on that, that we gotta be able to view it in the booth now,” Jones said to reporters in the locker room after that game. “I think that’s the next step as the NFL as a whole. If we’re gonna continue to call roughing the passer at that high of a velocity, then we gotta be able to view it in the booth to make sure because sometimes looks can be deceiving.”

The offseason meetings will delve into this matter further, but if it was up to Vincent, he would continue having video replay assisting in calls already made by referees instead of deciding them. 

Referee Carl Cheffers returns to the field after a roughing the passer call during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 10, 2022.
(David Eulitt/Getty Images)

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“I think chasing perfection is a dangerous place to go for the National Football League and, frankly, for officiating,” Vincent said. “And that’s what happens with the cameras, replay. You begin chasing perfection, which is not a good place for the game.”

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