Mike Pereira on Suggs' hit: "not a foul"

Mike Pereira, former Vice President of Officiating for the NFL has come out to disagree with the ruling on the field.

In regards to Suggs, it isn't a foul. QB does not get protection running read-option or zone-read. Might be cheap but not a foul.

— Mike Pereira (@MikePereira) August 23, 2015

We've covered this at length, but it is nice to have some backup from someone who used to have an official title with the NFL. The hit was clean due to the fact that Sam Bradford was not really a quarterback on that play. From the read-option aspect, Bradford became a running back the second the ball was snapped and does not get the same protection from hits that a quarterback would get.

Suggs had put it best:

When you run the read option, you have to know the rules. If you want to run the read option with your starting quarterback that’s had two knee surgeries, that’s on you. That’s not my responsibility to update you on the rule.

And he has a solid point as confirmed by Pereira above. It is the preseason and running those types of plays is dangerous enough as it is, but is compounded even more so by the fact that Bradford has had beyond his fair share of knee injuries throughout his career. I know that the Ravens wouldnt want to risk their franchise quarterback during a meaningless preseason game like that, but the Eagles are on a quest to do things differently, even if it is the dumb thing to do.

So once and for all, we can easily say that the hit was legal and Suggs should keep his relatively clean image as a football player.