Intentionally injuring a player has never been on Roquan Smith’s mind, and the Baltimore Ravens All-Pro insists his hit on Chris Godwin, that left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver with a dislocated ankle, wasn’t something he meant to happen.
Smith has been accused of using the controversial hip-drop tackle to take down Godwin late in the Ravens’ 41-31 win over the Bucs on Monday Night Football in Week 7. The standout middle linebacker addressed the issue and whether he’s been fined by the NFL for making this outlawed hit.
Speaking to reporters, including ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, on Thursday, October 24, Smith said “you never want to see anybody go down with any type of injury with any type of injury, but we a play a very physical game and it demands a lot, and bullets are flying pretty fast and you know, but I never go into any game meaning to injure any player. I want every player to go back home safe and sound to their family, maybe a little sore.
When asked if the league had made a ruling on any punishment, Smith bluntly replied, “That’s not really something to discuss in this moment.”
Smith’s comments were to the point, but they may not end the controversy about the hit that laid Godwin low. Especially since the Ravens have their own painful recent history with the hip-drop tackle.
Hip-Drop Tackle Allegations Followed Roquan Smith After Week 7
Allegations he used an egregious technique to fell Godwin followed Smith soon after the game. One of the first to use the “hip drop” moniker was Schefter’s colleague Adam Schefter.
He noted how “the tackle that Chris Godwin was hurt on appears to have all the elements of a hip drop tackle. The play is now under review, per sources, and if it is officially determined to be a hip drop tackle, Ravens LB Roquan Smith would be subject to a fine.”
Schefter’s comments were included in a post from The Sports Place’s Arye Pulli, showing the tackle, but not the injury. Pulli referenced the NFL definition of what constitutes the illegal tackle: “A hip-drop tackle is when a defender wraps up a ball carrier and rotates or swivels his hips, unweighting himself and dropping onto ball carrier’s legs during the tackle.”
A similar view was offered by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who reported “WR Chris Godwin’s injury is the latest example of why the NFL banned the hip-drop tackle.”
Naturally, there will be plenty of debate whether the play by Smith meets the criteria to be ruled an illegal hit. What is clear is how the incident increases the focus on the difficult balance between improving player safety and keeping a fast and physical brand of defense viable in the modern game.
The Ravens have now been on both sides of the debate.
Ravens Have Unwanted Experience of Hip-Drop Tackle
It was only last season when the NFL moved to ban the hip-drop tackle. The ruling came after Ravens’ All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews was injured following a hit from Cincinnati Bengals middle linebacker Logan Wilson.
As Hensley wrote, “the Ravens have been among the biggest supporters to get hip-drop tackles removed from the game.”
Andrews has since returned and is on his way back to the kind of prolific form that made him a favorite target of quarterback Lamar Jackson. He’s caught three touchdown passes in his last two games.
The league will eventually present its ruling on the technique Smith used in Tampa Bay, and the Ravens will have to accept it. What they won’t want is for the tone-setter of their defense to alter his fast, decisive playing style.
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