New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson suffered a lower-body injury in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The injury came after a hip-drop tackle from Chargers linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu. You can be the judge.
New England ultimately ruled Stevenson out for the remainder of the game with an ankle injury. It does indeed seem to be serious. Though, we will wait until further word from the Patriots before speculating.
This specific injury will lead to the hip-drop tackle coming under more scrutiny as the NFL pushes to ban it this coming offseason.
“Per a source with knowledge of the league’s thinking, the hip-drop tackle will be addressed in the offseason. And there definitely are key executives within 345 Park Avenue who want to see it gone,” Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported on Sunday.
Rhamondre Stevenson injury and hip-drop tackles
It was earlier this season that the form of tackle mentioned in this article came up big time after Baltimore Ravens star tight end Mark Andrews suffered a serious injury in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
No one is saying that players are dirty for the tackle. As of right now, it’s legal. Though, that could very well change with the NFL’s power elite having looking into it a ton in the not-so-distant past.
“I definitely would expect a vote on it in the spring and, unless something changes, I would expect the vote to come and pass. Which, if it’s like the horse collar, would be 15 yards and automatic first down,” report on hip-drop tackle from back in October.
It should be all about player safety. As we saw with the Stevenson injury, this is happening too frequently around the NFL and college football worlds. Remember, Florida State star quarterback and Heisman candidate Jordan Travis fell victim to it recently. It had wide-ranging ramifications on the selection process for the College Football Playoff.
It will take some adjustment from defensive players as this form of tackle has been part of their experience dating back to high school. But if the league is serious about player safety, it makes perfect sense to ban the tackle.
As for Stevenson, we’ll have further updates on his injury when they become available.