Texans coach Bill O'Brien concurs with penalty on Jadeveon Clowney
Aaron Wilson , Houston Chronicle Dec. 24, 2018
Texans Pro Bowl outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney naturally disagreed sharply with a roughing the passer penalty he was assessed for his crushing hit to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles on Sunday.
The infraction left Foles banged-up and helped position the Eagles for a game-winning field goal.
After reviewing the penalty, coach Bill O'Brien concurred with the officials' call.
The rule against lowering your helmet on a tackle is intended to promote safety.
"That crew is a good crew," O'Brien said. "They communicate well with the sideline. His head was down. What they're ultimately trying to remove from the game is the position – I guess what you would call the pronated position where the head is down. They're really doing that for the safety of, not only player who's being hit, but also the player that's doing the hitting.
"So, I understand that. We just have to continue to coach it better. We do, we show – if you asked the players, every Saturday morning we show them clips from around the league on different calls that are made, and a lot of them have to do with that type of play. His head was down and that's just the way it was."