Ravens tight end Mark Andrews was lost for the season on Thursday night when he suffered a serious ankle injury, and Ravens coach John Harbaugh isn’t happy with the way Andrews was tackled.
Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson used the hip-drop tackle technique to take Andrews down from behind, leading to Andrews’ lower left leg getting caught under Wilson’s body. The hip-drop tackle is legal, but some in and around the NFL think it shouldn’t be, and Harbaugh questioned why Wilson had to use it on Andrews. Harbaugh also said Wilson used the same technique to take Lamar Jackson down near the sideline, and indicated that the Ravens will send those plays into the league office.
“It was definitely a hip-drop tackle,” Harbaugh said. “It is being discussed. It’s a tough tackle. Was it even necessary in that situation? The other one on the sideline, there’s always plays that you send in to the league to have them look at and interpret for you.”
Some rugby leagues have banned the hip-drop tackle, defining it as when a defender grabs the ball carrier with one or both hands, swings or rotates his body to the side or behind the ball carrier, and then drops his body weight onto the ball carrier’s legs. The NFL has also considered banning the hip-drop tackle, but as of now it remains legal in football.
The NFL Players Association has opposed banning hip-drop tackles, saying that banning it would put defensive players in an impossible position. The league will continue to look at it, but so far there hasn’t been a proposal that clearly defines what is and is not a hip-drop tackle, and that has gained significant support from the players and the teams.