Rob Gronkowski condemned the NFL for its handling of roughing the passer penalties.
The New England Patriots benefited from a controversial call in Sunday’s 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders. K.J. Henry got flagged for landing on Mac Jones without any contact to the quarterback’s head.
On FanDuel’s Up & Adams, the former Patriots tight end expressed confusion and frustration over the flag.
“I don’t really know why that’s roughing the passer,” Gronkowski said (h/t NESN). “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.”
“The NFL is doing a terrible job with it”@RobGronkowski broke down this play…and the NFL’s policing of roughing the passer as a whole@heykayadams https://t.co/snzS9pEv0Q pic.twitter.com/Ho74hy95MC
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) November 8, 2023
Gronkowski added that he didn’t understand the league’s reasoning for calling roughing the passer. Referee Adrian Hill said after the game that Henry came down on Jones using his full body weight, but Gronk doesn’t think that should merit a penalty.
“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,” Gronkowski continued. “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, and that can change the momentum of the game at any time. So, I think it’s policed insanely too much.”
Gronk isn’t the only one who disagreed with the call.
Former NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said the play shouldn’t have been penalized, arguing that the league has “gone too far.”
Per ESPN’s John Keim, Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio told Henry to “do exactly what you did” moving forward. The fifth-round pick missed out on his first career NFL sack.
Despite adding a field goal with help from the penalty, the Patriots still fell to 2-7. They play the Indianapolis Colts in Germany this Sunday.