Rob Ninkovich played against Tom Brady in practice for eight years, and never really got the chance to hit him.
The longtime linebacker says he’s envious of the Patriots defenders who will receive the opportunity when the Buccaneers come to Gillette Oct. 4.
In an interview Tuesday with “The Greg Hill Show,” Ninkovich revealed his TB12 fantasy.
“I’d look at Tom and say, ‘How do you like them avocados?,’” Ninkovich said. “That’s the one guy I would love to smear. I would love to hit Tom free as can be, wide open. I would hit him right in the ’12,’ and just see if he’s like Gumby and just folds. I wouldn’t want to hurt him, but I’d just love to hit him.”
Ninkovich is far from the only defender to express that sentiment. Over the years, Brady has garnered the reputation of a quarterback who will often complain to officials when decked — and two high success. Two years ago, Dolphins linebacker Raekwon McMillan said referees told him to “stay off” Brady after a legal hit, so he wouldn’t get flagged for roughing the passer.
The NFL installed the so-called “Brady Rule” in 2009 prohibiting defenders who are on the ground from lunging at the quarterback’s legs. The ruling was put into place one year after Brady had tore his ACL.
During practice, Ninkovich said it was hard to get near Brady.
“After eight years of practice, he’s got a red jersey, you can’t even come close to him,” Ninkovich said. “It’s a sack, not a sack. You’re like, ‘Yeah, I got you.’ I’m envious of guys like [Dont’a] Hightower who played with him and now can just smear him.”
Besides Brady’s return, the other big storyline surrounding New England’s primetime Week 4 matchup against the Bucs was who will be under center for the Patriots. On Tuesday, we found out that will be Mac Jones. The Patriots released Cam Newton.
Ninkovich compared Jones’ style to — you guessed it — Brady’s.
“I am a Mac Jones guy,” Ninkovich said. “As a defender, when you have to go into a game and game plan according to a quarterback who has multiple checks, multiple options, and yes, Mac is young. But I also think with the type of offense you can run with Mac, you have more of an option when it comes to what you want to run and the style you want to run when it comes to Josh McDaniels’ style of coaching and what he likes to do and what we’ve all witnessed the last 20 years with Tom.”
While Jones may run a similar offense to Brady, one thing is for certain: Officials probably won’t tell players to stay off of him. Special treatment must be earned.