OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he has opinions on the controversial “hip-drop” tackle, but he said he’s keeping them to himself right now and will wait for any changes to come via the usual channel of the league’s Competition Committee.
The hip-drop tackle made headlines again last week when Cincinnati’s Logan Wilson hauled down Ravens tight end Mark Andrews with such a tackle, leaving Andrews with a significant injury to his left ankle.
At his weekly Monday news conference on Nov. 20, Harbaugh said Andrews’ injury, originally thought to be season-ending, is not as bad as feared. Andrews is having further consultation with Dr. Robert Anderson, a renowned foot and ankle specialist in North Carolina, Harbaugh said.
“There might be an outside chance he could get back at some point in time,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll just have to see how that goes, though. I don’t want to say that’s definitive by any stretch, but there is some optimism.”
Without Andrews, the Ravens (8-3) visit the Los Angeles Chargers (4-6) this week for a “Sunday Night Football” prime-time matchup.
The hip-drop tackle occurs when a defensive player essentially wraps a player up with his arms, usually around the waist, and then drops all his weight on the lower extremities of that player. That type of tackle has caused injuries to Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Seattle quarterback Geno Smith and others.
Earlier this year, Rich McKay, chairman of the league’s competition committee, called the hip-drop tackle a “cousin” of the horse-collar tackle that has been banned.
“When they do it, the runner becomes defenseless,” McKay said. “They can’t kick their way out from under. And that’s the problem. That’s where the injury occurs. You see the ankle get trapped underneath the weight of the defender.”
According to league executive Jeff Miller, the risk of injury is 25 times greater with a hip-drop tackle than a standard tackle.
After the Ravens beat the Bengals on “Thursday Night Football” and his star tight end hobbled off, perhaps for the rest of the season, Harbaugh said, “It’s a tough tackle. Was it even necessary in that situation?”
The tackle, though, has some supporters, not surprisingly among players whose job is to tackle.
“I hate that Mark is hurt. Prayers for him, but at the end of the day, we play football. We play a tackling sport,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. “I don’t think a hip-drop tackle is that bad of a thing. How else do you want us to tackle? Just let the guy run past you? … At the end of the day, we play football. We have pads on. We have all that stuff on for a reason.”
Last spring, the league’s players’ association publicly opposed any changes to the hip-drop tackle.
“While the players have consistently advocated for health and safety advancements,” the NFLPA statement read, “any prohibition on the ‘hip-drop tackle’ technique is unfair to players and unrealistic to implement. It places defensive players in an impossible position by creating indecision in the mind of any tackling player, puts officials in an unreasonable situation that will result in inconsistent calls on the field, and confuses our fans.”
League rules changes course through the Competition Committee, which makes recommendations that are voted on by league owners at the annual spring meetings. At least 24 of the league’s 32 owners must vote in favor of any proposed rules change for it to be adopted.
Harbaugh said he has opinions on the hip-drop tackle but declined to share them and stressed that he is busy preparing for the Chargers.
“I kind of have in my mind a plan for that, if I was king for a day … but I’m not, so no one cares,” Harbaugh said. “Right now, I just think it’s in good hands. The Competition Committee talks about those things, and if they decide to do something, it would be for good reason.
“In the offseason, I’m sure there will be a debate,” he added, “and it will be voted on and all that. Right now, we’re just trying to get ready for the next game.”
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