Rob Gronkowski Rips NFL After Weak Penalty In Patriots Game
'It's kind of ruining the game'
Last Sunday’s Commanders-Patriots game didn’t feature outstanding officiating, to say the least.
Both teams fell victim to ticky-tack calls at Gillette Stadium. New England was plagued by a bogus offside call late in the game, but that controversial infraction paled in comparison to Washington’s roughing the passer penalty in the third quarter.
K.J. Henry logged a seemingly picture-perfect sack on Mac Jones, who was tackled in the mid-section and put on the ground without any apparent violence. But officials thought otherwise and tagged Henry with a 15-yard penalty for putting his “full body weight” on Jones.
The call got a rise out of Rob Gronkowski, who took aim at the NFL on Wednesday.
“I don’t really know why that’s roughing the passer,” Gronkowski said on the “Up & Adams” show. “The NFL is doing a terrible job with it, I think. It’s kind of ruining the game. They’re policing roughing the passer way too much. What was the ruling there (for) why it was roughing the passer? Because the defender fell on quarterback Mac Jones? If that’s the case, I really don’t understand it that much.
“Full body weight? I mean, it’s not like he fell on his head or his lower extremities. It looked like he didn’t even try to drive him. It’s just how the momentum took him. It’s bad. It’s kind of ruining the game because it’s giving the advantage to the offense sometimes when they should never have the advantage. You get a free 15 yards for absolutely no reason. That can change the momentum of the game at any time. So, I think it’s policed insanely too much.”
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Gronkowski isn’t the only Patriots legend who recently complained about officiating. Tom Brady argued the modern game is “more like flag football,” but Gronk felt that was an ironic take from his former teammate who received a fair share of special treatment from refs.
Henry’s penalty didn’t end up paying dividends for the Patriots, who dropped to 2-7 with their loss to the Commanders. New England will try to jump back into the win column Sunday when it meets the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany.
