The San Francisco 49ers are dealing with a massive injury to their franchise quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo suffered what’s feared to be a torn ACL in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The injury came as Garoppolo attempted to pick up additional yards on a scramble late in the fourth quarter. In no way was his injury due to a defender making an illegal hit.
Unfortunately, Miami Dolphins defensive end William Hayes suffered a torn ACL of his own Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. It came after Hayes attempted to avoid landing directly on top of Derek Carr after a sack (watch here).
If he had landed on the quarterback, new NFL rules dictated it would have been a 15-yard penalty.
It’s something we saw come out in droves during the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Washington Redskins on the very same day (more on that here).
In talking about Hayes’ injury and how it was impacted by the new rule, 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman put the NFL on absolute blast.
They don’t care about the rest of us getting hurt. Long as the QB is safe https://t.co/ihjlz3lVQl
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) September 24, 2018
Sherman is not wrong here. Sure protecting players at the game’s most-important position is something the NFL has to do. But at what cost?
Once defensive players start getting injured as a way to avoid real football plays, this entire situation becomes pretty darn ridiculous. Hayes might have been the first defender impacted by this new rule, but he’s not going to be the last.
As a major power player within the NFLPA, Sherman has some authority when it comes to this. He’s the 49ers player rep and held down that role over the vast majority of his career in Seattle.
Either way, Hayes’ injury is only going to create more issues as the season progresses.