Around The NFL: Dashon Goldson Suspended, Jaguars Ailing, Patrick Willis Wants Opponents To Hit Like Men
By Danny Cox
Illegal hits are becoming a sore subject in the NFL, and it seems as if they are happening more and more even though the league is doing more to prevent them. They're bringing about fines, suspensions, and unfortunately, injuries. It doesn't appear as if the NFL can do a whole lot more to stop illegal hits, but if players continue to do them, then it could ruin the game.
Buccaneers Dashon Goldson appealing one-game suspension for hit against Saints
Tampa Bay safety Dashon Goldson is quickly becoming one of the dirtiest players in the league. He was fined $30,000 in Week 1 for a hit on Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland. In Week 2, he delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles, and it got him suspended for one game.
Goldson is planning on appealing the one-game ban and hopes to get the hearing expedited as soon as possible.
From 2010 through Monday, Goldson has drawn 15 personal fouls and that is more than any other player in the NFL. He's also racked up over $70,000 in fines in that same time span, but he really hopes his suspension doesn't hold up.
MJD should be back for the Jags, but Blaine Gabbert is likely out
Running back Maurice Jones-Drew and tight end Marcedes Lewis are said to have good chances of playing next week against the Seattle Seahawks. The problem for the Jaguars is that quarterback Blaine Gabbert won't be in the line-up.
Gabbert is poised to miss his second consecutive game due to a hand injury, and that means Chad Henne will get another start for Jacksonville.
Lewis hasn't played for the Jaguars since getting injured during warm-ups before a preaseason game back in mid-August. Jones-Drew injured his ankle late in the first half of Sunday's loss to the Oakland Raiders, and he did not return.
49ers Patrick Willis wants opponents to hit him like a ram
San Francisco's premiere linebacker Patrick Willis was not pleased defensive tackle Ian Williams suffering a serious ankle injury. Coach Jim Harbaugh says it was a "legal" play, but Willis believes that the NFL needs to look again at how they are evaluating and treating cut blocks.
"I feel like as a linebacker or a D-lineman, any cut, it's a man sport – be a man, hit me up high," Willis told CSNBayArea.com. "Hit like rams. You don't see a ram going and cutting another ram's legs. They hit head to head, pad to pad."
Willis believes that players should "hit the man up high." He thinks that if things had happened the way they were supposed to then Williams wouldn't be out with a broken ankle. The hit came during Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks when J.R. Sweezy cut blocked Williams.
"You're not talking about a concussion and being out for two weeks," Willis said. "You're talking about being down for the rest of the season if you get hit good like that."
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Danny Cox knows a little something about the NFL, whether it means letting you know what penalty will come from the flag just thrown on the field or quickly spouting off who the Chicago Bears drafted in the first round of the 1987 draft (Jim Harbaugh). He plans on bringing you the best news, previews, recaps, and anything else that may come along with the exciting world of the National Football League. Danny is a freelance writer covering all things NFL. His work can be found on Examiner.com.
