Jaguars pass-rusher Jihad Ward shakes referee’s hand after roughing the passer penalty

Jaguars pass-rusher Jihad Ward had an unusual reaction to his roughing the passer penalty against the Patriots.

It’s safe to say that the NFL’s administration of the roughing the passer penalty has been a bit ticky-tack this season. We’ve gone over this in excruciating detail, and whenever the league decides to make something a “point of emphasis” before the season, you know the resulting calls are going to be flawed by design. In the case of the roughing the passer call, there is a section in the NFL’s rule book which states that “When in doubt about a roughness call or potentially dangerous tactic against the passer, the Referee should always call roughing the passer.”

So, that’s problematic. In the case of Jaguars pass-rusher Jihad Ward, who was busted for this penalty against quarterback Mac Jones with 1:20 left in the first half. Ward beat right guard Shaq Mason to get to Jones, but he inadvertently hit Jones in the face mask as he was taking the rookie down, and that’s always going to grab a flag.

In this case, Ward did not complain — he simply tried to plead his case to referee Adrian Hill, and when that elicited no change in results, Ward simply shook Hill’s hand and moved on to the next play.

It’s always nice when, even though we disagree, we can settle our differences in a respectful manner. Kudos to Mr. Ward, who gave us a fine example of civility with which to ring in the New Year.