NFL could punish Ravens player for tackle that led to Chris Godwin's injury during Bucs' loss on Monday Night Football
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) had to watch one of their best players in Chris Godwin potentially suffer his second season-ending injury since 2021. The injury occurred with under a minute left in the game as the Bucs were attempting to come back from a 10-point defecit.Bucs head coach Todd Bowles told reporters after the […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) had to watch one of their best players in Chris Godwin potentially suffer his second season-ending injury since 2021. The injury occurred with under a minute left in the game as the Bucs were attempting to come back from a 10-point defecit.
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles told reporters after the game that the initial prognosis is a dislocated ankle. If that holds through Tuesday's tests, then it's very likely Godwin is done for the year. At best, he'll be out for a long time and wouldn't return until some point in the postseason. If the Bucs make it that far, of course.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the NFL is investigating Roquan Smith's tackle on Godwin that caused the injury. The tackle has a lot of traits similar to that of a hip-drop tackle, which the league has banned. If Smith is found "guilty", then he'll face a fine.
Per the NFL's definition, a hip-drop tackle is "a tackle [that] occurs 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".
It certainly looks like Smith's tackle fits the above criteria, but it's also a tough angle to tell from. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see what the NFL's final verdict is as it attempts to find consistency when it comes to defining hip-drop tackles and following through with suitable punishment(s).
