During Tuesday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, the news broke of former Jets linebacker IK Enemkpali breaking Jets quarterback Geno Smith’s jaw. Roughly 10 minutes later, Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith joined the program for a previously-scheduled interview.
So Smith was asked about the obvious question about players hitting quarterbacks.
“There’s some things you know not to do, growing up you know not to put your hand on a female at all times,” Smith said. “You know to respect someone’s mom always. And on a football team you know stay away from the quarterback. It’s as simple as that. I can’t think of many training camps where you start a season when I haven’t gone back over that again. But again, it’s just not me policing that, our entire football team, they know what’s at stake.”
And it’s more than simply keeping the quarterback healthy. Buccaneers defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier explained that the inability of a player to control his emotions during practice will manifest itself during games.
“You have to be able to maintain your composure,” Frazier told Steve Duemig of WDAE radio, via JoeBucsFan.com. “In today’s NFL, you get in a fight in a ballgame, you run the risk of not just a personal foul, you’re going to end up getting thrown out and if you come off the bench, you’re going to get fined and potentially thrown out of the game, as well. So you gotta find a way in this environment, even in practice, to maintain composure. These are still your teammates. It gets a little frustrating at times, but you gotta be able to have some poise.
“Everything that we’re doing is geared toward the season. So if we see a guy who’s getting into situations where he can’t control his temper, well that’s a mark against him.”
For plenty of guys who fight in camp, the mark is somewhere on his body, possibly with an injury that keeps him practicing or playing. That’s the last thing any team wants for its quarterback.