Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden spoke to reporters on Monday. The question of discussion was centered on the near interception by David Bruton in the end zone. Gruden was perplexed by the official’s final call.
Jay Gruden Says He Doesn’t Know What a Catch is Anymore
“I’ve heard that everybody says it was an interception except for the replay guy. I don’t know what the rule is. We just have got to live by it.”
Certainly, that sounds like the response of a coach that is now unsure of a major ‘grey area’ in the rule book that he is clueless over. “I thought his elbow was down, I thought his butt was down, I thought he had control of the ball,” said Gruden. “I thought it was a clear challengeable play; it just didn’t work out for us. I don’t know what a catch is anymore. I don’t know if anybody does. We just are at the mercy of the result.”
As long as he had possession, elbow = two feet#Redskins with a HUGE red zone takeaway #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/2lab22euNj
— Neil Dalal (@NeilDalal96) September 25, 2016
In fact, the “grey area” the rule has now left Gruden, and many other coaches around the league, at a major disadvantage.
“I thought I could have maybe challenged the one Josh Norman stripped on Odell too. That was close. I was afraid. You know, you’ve just got to take the information that is given to you from upstairs or what you see on the replay and make a decision and hope for the best, but it didn’t work out for us.”
The league needs to be clear on this rule and hold the officials in every game to a certain overall standard of enforcing a more clear understanding of what is or isn’t a catch. Certainly, this will make it easier for coaches to be able to determine the need for reviews or even just to argue their point to the sideline officials. If a coach doesn’t fully understand how the rules work, or if the officials are not consistent, how can this particular section of football work for anyone?
