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Still rehabbing, Texans linebacker Brian Cushing urges chop-block ban
Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing has an urgent appeal to the NFL's competition committee as it mulls potential rules changes this week in Naples, Fla.:
Eliminate chop blocks – like the one that ended Cushing's season Oct. 8 with a shredded left anterior cruciate ligament.
In the second quarter of a Monday night game against the New York Jets, guard Matt Slauson ran past Cushing, then doubled back and cut him down with a blindside hit while Cushing was pursuing running back Bilal Powell.
"It's just asking for an injury when you get guys this big, this fast going full speed at legs," Cushing told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "What do you think is going to happen?''
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Five months later, Cushing says he is still a week and a half away from returning to the field and running in a brace.
But surprisingly not everyone in the Texans organization sides with Cushing on the possible rule change – not the offensive linemen, and not head coach Gary Kubiak.
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"Me? I think you know that answer,'' Kubiak said at the NFL scouting combine last month. "It's part of what we do. I think it's part of football. We teach it the right way. Hopefully, that part stays with us.''
LINKCushing is on one side, Kubiak is on the other. And if Texans general manager Rick Smith is the organizational swing vote, know this: He sounds like he's backing Cushing – and Smith is member of the competition committee.
"That block (on Cushing) is already illegal (outside the tackle box)," Smith said at the combine. "In the (tackle) box, it's legal. The question that we've got to answer is: Should it be? And I don't think anybody thinks so.
"So that's something that we've got to talk about and think about.''
Cushing understands the debate from offensive linemen since cut-blocking is integral to the way the Texans create lanes for running back Arian Foster.
"The guys I've talked to have all been for it, except for the offensive linemen,'' Cushing said. "But I just feel it can be done safely.''
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