It appears not everyone thought Danny Trevathan’s hit on Davante Adams was a dirty play.
And Jon Gruden is chief among them.
The Chicago Bears linebacker received a one-game suspension for a brutal hit on the Green Bay Packers wide receiver last Thursday, but Gruden, for one, was very impressed by the hit.
First, here’s the hit.
And now Gruden’s response to the blow that led to Adams being carted off on a stretcher with a concussion.
“I thought Trevathan made a great play,” Gruden said Wednesday on ESPN’s “Mike & Mike.” “Obviously, what he’s hitting, the surface, below the neck, all those things, I’m totally agreeing on, but I thought Trevathan made a heck of a play and unfortunately a man got hurt.”
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and current “Monday Night Football” analyst then discussed whether he thought it was a suspension-worthy hit.
“There’s a lot of ways to look at this and I don’t want to see anybody get hurt — It was a vicious hit — but not to be politically correct, you’re supposed to run to the ball,” Gruden said. “We used to tell our receivers if you want to run an inside breaking route and you want to fight for yardage after the catch, you better be careful, because these defensive players, they’re on the hunt.”
Gruden then went on to say he believes a lot of the receivers who run routes over the middle just need to stop fighting for yards.
“I think some of these receivers that are running these quick screens and these inside breaking (run/pass option plays), they need to get down,” Gruden said. “I’m not blaming Davante Adams, but I think there’s two ways to look at it. I’ve always coached energy, hustling, rushing to the pile, and if it is wiggling, you do hit it because guys are fighting for yardage, and sometimes, you’ve got to give up the ball because of one inch. Inches matter. That’s why they measure first downs. That’s why they have a crew down there with those chains.”
Adams hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys, but Trevathan will not be on the field to impress Gruden more when the Bears face the Minnesota Vikings on “Monday Night Football.”
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
