Ja'Whaun Bentley not happy with hip-drop tackle ban by NFL

BOSTON -- In his own words, Patriots linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley got turned up on Monday morning, thanks to a vote by NFL owners to ban the hip-drop tackle.

The tackle -- which involves a defender wrapping up a ball carrier before falling to the ground as dead weight and occasionally landing on the ball carriers' ankles, feet and legs -- was unanimously banned by owners on Monday, despite the NFLPA protesting the proposal. Though the tackle has proven to have a high injury rate, the union contested that any rule change would cause "confusion" for players, coaches, officials and fans.

With the hip-drop tackle now banned, the job for every defensive player in the NFL got that much harder. And Bentley, a three-time Patriots defensive captain, voiced some of those frustrations on social media.

"Eliminate the CHOP BLOCK too if we care so much about Player Safety," Bentley tweeted, a common refrain among defensive players who believe player safety rules tend to focus more on the offensive side of the ball.

Bentley then listed all of the bans that defenders have to navigate when they want to make a tackle.

Bentley then admitted that he was pretty fired up for a Monday morning.

And after getting a little bit more social media attention than normal, Bentley quickly pivoted to putting the spotlight on his alma mater.

Clearly, NFL owners banned the tackle to try to prevent injuries, like the one that cost Mark Andrews seven games late last season. But just as clearly, officials will have difficulty enforcing it, and defensive players will have a difficult time adjusting.