PFWA Pool Report

PFWA Pool Reporter Nicki Jhabvala Interview with Referee Adrian Hill

Sunday, November 5, 2023

Question: Can you walk us through that play when KJ Henry is called for roughing the passer? What did you see? Was the call appropriate from what you saw?

Hill: “I was the calling official and the call was roughing the passer due to full body weight. The ruling on the field was that the defender came down with forceable contact, chest-to-chest. He didn’t perform one of those acts to remove most of that body weight – a gator roll or a clear to the side when he was coming in. He came down directly with that force on the player, so the category was full body weight.”

Question: In those situations where the defender is coming from that weak side and the quarterback has sort of his back turned to him, what is the defender supposed to do to avoid putting his full body weight on him?

Hill: “There are two common techniques. One we call the ‘gator roll’ where if he takes that player and rolls to the side so they both land on their side, that 90-degree rotation as he comes around. Or he comes down and breaks the fall first with hands and knees almost like in a crab-like fashion on top of the quarterback.”