Injuries to Thibodeaux, Thomas spark debate over ban to cut blocks

ASHBURN — Logan Thomas knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the kind of hit that Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux took in Sunday’s preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The suddenness of your legs being taken out under you. The jolt of pain that rushes to your knee. 

Watch the hits side by side and they’re almost identical — except the positions were reversed. In December, the Commanders tight end was taken out on a cut block by Raiders edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue. On Sunday, it was Bengals tight end Thaddeus Moss who took out the New York defensive end. In both settings, the point of contact was below the knee. 

Fortunately for Thibodeaux, the damage wasn’t as severe as it seemed — the fifth overall pick is projected to miss only three to four weeks with a sprained MCL, according to reports. 

Thomas wasn’t as lucky.

“There’s an act of going low,” said Thomas, who’s recovering from a torn ACL, “and the act of going too low.” 

Eight months after the injury, Thomas finally returned to practice Monday as the 31-year-old was activated off the Commanders’ Physically Unable to Perform list. But with Thibodeaux injured, the debate whether the NFL should look to outlaw cut blocks resurfaced this past weekend. 

Former Washington quarterback and current ESPN analyst Robert Griffin III wrote on Twitter that “It’s time to BAN THIS BLOCK. Period.” Fox Sports’ Emmanuel Acho, a former linebacker, called the hit on Thibodeaux “ridiculous, dangerous and cowardly.” The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen tweeted that Moss deserved to be fined and suspended. 

The Ringer’s Warren Sharp tweeted out the video with the message: “DIRTY AF.” 

Last winter’s hit on Thomas prompted a similar reaction, with a series of Washington fans accusing Ngakoue of being dirty. But for now, the play remains perfectly legal. The NFL has taken steps in recent years to eliminate other types of dangerous hits, including most kinds that land below the waist. 

Was this a dirty play by Yannick Ngakoue on Logan Thomas that more than likely ended his season? pic.twitter.com/xqt80zkKC1

— Owen Kidd (@OKiddVT) December 6, 2021

This is ridiculous, dangerous and cowardly! Straight cowardly. Prayers up for Kayvon Thibodeaux.

pic.twitter.com/v1aIKuJAbC

— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) August 22, 2022

But the difference — and why these plays are still legal — comes down to the “tight end box,” or what the league defines as  “two yards outside of the normal tackle position and extends five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage.” In Moss’ case, the 24-year-old appeared to be trying to prevent Thibodeaux from making the tackle on the Bengals’ running back.

“You see these kinds of plays every week, so it was surprising to see the reaction,” former Colts safety Darius Butler said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I know the ending of the play was ugly. His leg did get caught up under him. … It’s football. It’s still a violent, dangerous game and I know a lot of people, I guess, don’t realize that anymore. But it still is.”

Former Rams defensive end Chris Long also echoed the sentiment that cut blocks like Moss’ hit are commonplace. When facing the Seahawks, he wrote, St. Louis’ linemen would specifically go low because they’d know that Seattle would also do the same. “They did it less after” that, he wrote. 

“It shouldn’t be allowed, but it is,” Long tweeted. “And it’s coached. And it’s why a DE might go low on Logan Thomas. Take the block out of the game & the defender/TE are safer.”

Speaking to reporters, Thomas said that for low blocks, coaches still instruct to stay above the knee. Not only does that limit the chance of injury, Thomas said, but “it’s more effective that way.” 

The consequences of a hit-gone-wrong can be damaging. Thomas said he still doesn’t know if he’ll be available for Week 1 when Washington’s season begins Sept.11. The tight end, who sported a leg brace and was limited to mostly individual drills in Monday’s practice, said he couldn’t do anything besides stretch his leg for the first month after the injury. Then, the 31-year-old spent weeks and months strengthening his quad, working on his balance and focusing on his core just to work his way back to the field.

“Every day starts feeling like a monotonous grind,” he said. 

So far, the NFL has shown no indication that its willing to change its stance. Like every year, the league’s competition committee recommends changes and points of emphasis. But for this coming season, the main focus appears to be on illegal contact penalties and roughing the passer plays. 

The league, ESPN reported, asked officials to pay particular attention to illegal contact after only 36 penalties were called in that area last season, down from the average of 97 per season from 2002 to 2020.

Commanders coach Ron Rivera sits on the NFL’s competition committee. Does he want to see the panel eventually take on cut blocks? 

“I do hope so,” Rivera said.