After Sunday night’s game between the Buccaneers and Bears, Tampa Bay tackle Luke Goedeke had some grievances to air about Chicago defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Bears guard Jonah Jackson was unpersuaded by Goedeke’s complaints about Simmons launching himself at and/or holding Bucs linemen.
“The guys on his team tried to launch themselves at us on every play,” Jackson said on 104.3 The Score. “I don’t know any different. That’s on him how he feels. It is what it is. This is football, man. Especially in the trenches. It gets rough and rowdy. . . . Did you see that big guy, number 50 [Vita Vea], launching at us? . . . It is what it is. We signed up for this.”
As to Simmons holding Goedeke, Jackson was equally blunt.
“They all do it. It is what it is. You’ve got find ways to combat it,” he said.
It really is anything goes when it comes to line play, subject to what the officials see and are willing to call. Especially when there are so many uncalled holding penalties on offensive linemen, arguably since defensive ends are so good and the powers-that-be prefer to keep quarterbacks in one piece.
The best, most recent example of that came in Carolina on Sunday, on the play when Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto forced a fumble by Panthers quarterback Bryce Young to seal the game. Bonitto was being held the entire play. And he still got it done.
That’s the message for all offensive and defensive linemen. Do whatever you have to do to get it done. It’s only a foul if a flag is thrown.