DE Hayes out for season
DAVIE — Miami Dolphins veteran defensive end William Hayes is done for the season after suffering an injury while trying to abide by a controversial NFL rule.
Hayes tore the ACL in his right knee while sacking Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr in the second quarter of Sunday’s 28-20 victory.
Dolphins coach Adam Gase said Monday that Hayes sustained the injury while trying to not put his body weight on Carr to avoid drawing a flag as a result of the NFL’s point of emphasis on the roughing-the-passer penalty this season.
“He was not trying to put body weight on the quarterback, so his foot got caught in the ground,” Gase said.
The roughing the passer rule — located in Rule 12, Section 2, Article 9 of the NFL’s rule book — states a player will be penalized if he applies all or most of his body weight onto a quarterback and drives him to the ground.
It has become a point of emphasis in the NFL this season after Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was driven to the ground and suffered a season-ending collarbone injury last year.
The interpretation of the rule has come under stark criticism from Packers star linebacker Clay Matthews, who has been flagged for roughing the passer in all three games this season on hits that may have been considered traditional plays in the past.
“Unfortunately this league is going in a direction that a lot of people don’t like. I think they’re getting soft,” Matthews said after Green Bay’s 31-17 loss at Washington on
Sunday.
NFL players around the league have taken notice of the penalties levied on Matthews.
Dolphins defensive tackle Akeem Spence called the new roughing-the-passer guidelines a “doubleedged sword.”
“Let’s keep it honest, that rule is a tough rule to gauge,” Spence said. “We know the rule, but we don’t know the ins and outs of it.
Then, I see Clay Matthews, he had another one [Sunday] and it’s like what do you want the guy to do? He has to put the guy down. How much is too much weight? What technique do you use and how do you go about it?
“We’re still asking questions about it just like you are.”
Hayes, in his 11th season, leads the Dolphins with two of the team’s six sacks, and was a key rotational player on the defensive line.
“It hurts,” Gase said of the injury. “He’s one of our
leaders in the locker room. … That’s going to be a tough one to swallow.”
Gase did not have any further injury updates on defensive end Andre Branch (knee), tight end A.J. Derby (right foot), or linebacker Chase Allen (foot).
All three players suffered injuries during the Raiders game, but Gase does not expect them to miss an extended period of time.
The injuries are starting to pile up for the Dolphins, who are off to their first 3-0 start in five years.
The Dolphins lost starting tight end Mar-Queis Gray, a six-year veteran, for the season after he tore an Achilles tendon at the start of the season.
The Dolphins also lost starting left guard Josh Sitton, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, for the season due to a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.
The Dolphins were without starting safety Reshad Jones (shoulder) against the Raiders, but he could return for Sunday’s game against the rival New England Patriots.