Texans running back Joe Mixon has missed three games after Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards tackled him using the illegal hip-drop tackle. Edwards was not penalized but was later fined.
Mixon, who returned to practice Thursday, questioned the league’s emphasis regarding player safety.
“I was the No. 1 leader in rushing. I was stopped because of that weak-ass hip-drop tackle,” Mixon said Thursday, via DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN. “I can’t do nothing about that. It’s frustrating. It is what it is. I want to be out there more than anybody.”
Edwards was fined only $16,883, an amount Mixon deemed too low based on the injury rate of the hip-drop tackle. Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet and Packers running back Josh Jacobs, for instance, each were fined $45,020 for impermissible use of the helmet.
“You got guys out here protecting themselves from hits and they are getting fined $45,000, and $50,000,” Mixon said. “And for an illegal hip-drop tackle they’re getting fined $16,000 when it’s supposed to be an emphasis. It’s supposed to be taken out of the game. So obviously the priorities ain’t right with what’s going on. It is frustrating to see, but it is what it is. If we’re going to talk about playing the game the right way, we got to have integrity for the game when it comes to it.”
Mixon also has questioned the NFLPA’s priorities, posting on social media on Oct. 4 that the union is more concerned with media access rules than with player safety.
Mixon said he asked the official after the play where the flag was for the hip drop tackle. The official said, according to Mixon, that it wasn’t a hip drop tackle.
Officials are not throwing flags for illegal hip drop tackles, which the Competition Committee noted would be hard to officiate, but instead they are letting the NFL take care of it with fines.
“The NFL and NFLPA made it a rule and an emphasis for a reason,” Mixon wrote shortly after the game ended. “Time to put your money where your mouth is.”
