Raiders’ Carr wishes injured Miami DE hadn’t eased up on sack

ALAMEDA, Calif. — In hindsight, Derek Carr wishes he felt more soreness Monday morning.

He’d prefer that to the season-ending knee injury his opponent suffered Sunday while trying to protect him, Carr said Wednesday.

Miami Dolphins defensive end William Hayes sacked the Raiders quarterback early in the second quarter. In the process, Hayes reportedly attempted to follow an NFL point of emphasis that deters body weight from being intentionally placed on a quarterback during a sack. Hayes stuck out his right leg to ease off Carr but, when doing so, tore his right ACL.

Hayes will undergo reconstructive knee surgery. He was placed on injured-reserve Wednesday.

“Honestly, I said this to my wife and a couple teammates the other day,” Carr said. “I wish the guy would have just landed on me besides tear his ACL. Honestly. I’ve been playing a while. I’ve been hit my fair share, and guys land on you and things like that. It is what it is. On that play, for him to try and protect me, which I’m thankful for — thank you —but for him to tear his ACL, nobody wants that. I don’t want that.

“When people were getting hit in the head, well then safeties started hitting people in the knees and ankles. ‘I’ll take you hitting me in the head any day over that,’ those kinds of things. It’s that fine line of our league trying to find that right balance. It’s an imperfect game. We’re trying to figure it out, too. It’s 22 guys, full-speed chaos for four seconds, and you’re trying to make rules for it. That’s tough.”

Hayes writhed in pain immediately following the sack.

Initially, for most onlookers at Hard Rock Stadium, it seemed as though his movement was part of a sack celebration. Not until soon thereafter did the situation became clear.

For nearby players, reality hit in real time. Carr said that he knew immediately by the sound that Hayes was injured. He rolled his body toward Hayes and received visual confirmation.

“I definitely didn’t want the guy to tear his ACL,” Carr said. “Thankfully he protected me; he kept me safe. But if he was doing it again, ‘Man, land on me.’ Don’t hurt yourself.”

Four plays later, the Raiders were flagged for violating the same rule.

Rookie defensive tackle Mo Hurst was deemed to have roughed the quarterback, a 15-yard penalty, when striking Ryan Tannehill. The infraction occurred on a third-and-9 incompletion from the Raiders’ 34-yard line. Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki was penalized for holding on the same play. Because of Hurst’s infraction, the two calls offset.

On the replayed down, wide receiver Kenny Stills caught a 34-yard touchdown, tying the game 7-7.

The Raiders lost 28-20.

“It’s a tough call,” coach Jon Gruden said Wednesday. “They’re trying to protect the quarterbacks. Defensive linemen have it really hard right now, I think. There was a call on us of roughing the passer I didn’t agree with. You could say that play cost us a game. I hate to see what happened any time a man gets hurt. We need more clarity. I think we need more clarity. I think that’s been a common theme around a lot of the rules, honestly.”

It’s debatable whether or not the NFL’s point of emphasis cost the Raiders a game.

What isn’t is that it cost Hayes the season — much to Carr’s dismay.

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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.