Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman was at the forefront of yet another terrible roughing the passer penalty and he says it’s time for the NFL to allow reviews on the controversial penalty.
“I think they’ve put such an emphasis on it that we need to be able to view it in the booth now,” Jones told reporters. “That’s the next step for the NFL as a whole. Looks can be deceiving. When you look at a replay, it’s a whole different thing. It’s getting absurd.”
Jones added: “Now it’s getting absurd. Now it’s costing teams games.”
Referee Carl Cheffers, who called the penalty, said after the game that he felt Jones, who recovered the fumble in the process of tackling Derek Carr, landed on him with his full body weight:
“[Carr] gets full protection of all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture,” Cheffers said. “So when he was tackled, my ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.”
Asked whether the fact that a fumble was occurring in the process of the sack changed the perspective, the longtime official explained it comes down to protecting the quarterback.
“[Carr] gets passing protection until he can defend himself,” Cheffers, who has worked in the NFL since 2000, said. “Just as if he had thrown the ball, he still gets protection. … That extends until he’s no longer in control of the ball.”
The Chiefs, who trailed 17-7 when the penalty was called in the second quarter, came back to win the AFC West clash, 30-29.
