KC Chiefs coach Andy Reid won’t say if he’s heard from NFL about roughing call on Jones
A controversial roughing the passer penalty on Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, assessed during Monday night’s Chiefs-Raiders NFL game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, continues to stoke the ire of fans.
But asked about that penalty Wednesday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid wouldn’t say whether the Chiefs had petitioned the league’s officiating department for an official review or clarification of the penalty, which occurred at the end of a play in which Jones sacked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and forced a fumble.
In fact, Reid wouldn’t say whether there’s been any communication of any kind with the league office on that subject.
“They’ll let me know,” the coach said, referring to the NFL office. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Teams are allowed to submit up to 10 plays per week to the league’s officiating department for clarification and feedback. Jones’ infraction could be a prime candidate for that sort of review, given its circumstances.
The officiating crew at GEHA Field Monday evening was headed by Carl Cheffers. The flag on Jones kept alive a Las Vegas drive that culminated in a field goal, extending the Raiders’ lead to 20-7 shortly before halftime.
The Chiefs came back in the second half to beat their AFC West rivals 30-29, but Reid was clearly irate with the call at the time. He was observed making animated gestures from the sideline in Cheffers’ direction late in the first half.
Reid and Cheffers had a conversation on the field as halftime began, before Reid went to the Chiefs’ locker room, but after the game, Reid declined to reveal its details.
“I’m not going there,” Reid said Monday night. “I got it off my chest and he got it off his chest. He made the call he made, and I got (in) what I needed to say.”
In a pool report after the game, Cheffers explained that he called the penalty because Jones came down on top of Carr “with full body weight.” He said the turnover, which Jones recovered, did not play a part in that decision.
“The fact that the ball came out and was subsequently recovered by the defense is not relevant as far as the protection the quarterback gets,” Cheffers told pool reporter Adam Teicher of ESPN.
An NFL spokesperson told The Star that there would be no statement beyond the pool report. Meanwhile, video showed that Jones attempted to brace himself with his arms to prevent landing with his full body weight on Carr.
After the game, Jones called for roughing the passer penalties to be reviewed.
“I hit the ball,” Jones said in the locker room after the game. “What do you want me to do?
“I brace my hands, so I think it’s taking initiative to extend to look at roughing the passers now as a league. You know, like they did pass interference a couple years back, where we can (re)view the pass interference (calls). I think that’s now the next level we’re going to have to take as a league for all these roughing the passers.”
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday stopped short of saying that roughing the passer penalties should be reviewable.
“It’s a fine line,” Mahomes said. “... Sometimes when we slow the camera down to super slow-mo, everything kind of looks like it’s either going to be roughing the passer or pass interference, because there’s always contact when you’re playing football.
“And so I’m sure they’ll look into that to see if that’s the right decision, but at the end of the day we’ve just got to play by the rules that are out there. Obviously, it hurt us this last week in that one spot, but the guys responded well and we found a way to win the game.”
Jones’ penalty was one of two that were in the news from Week 5. Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett drew a flag following his sack of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. In another close game, Jarrett’s sack would’ve stopped a Bucs drive and given the Falcons an opportunity for a game-winning possession late in the fourth quarter.
Instead, the penalty on Jarrett kept alive Tampa Bay’s drive. Brady would kneel out the clock six plays later. Final score: Bucs 21, Falcons 15.
For what it’s worth, the number of roughing the passer penalties league-wide has trended downward thus far in 2022, according to an NFL spokesperson. Roughing the passer fouls were down 45% through Week 5 in comparison with the same span in 2021, the spokesperson said, noting that there were 51 such infractions at this point in the 2021 season and 28 such calls through Week 5 this year.
This story was originally published October 12, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
