Rex Ryan thinks the NFL should eject players for targeting, like the NCAA

If Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry had been playing at the NCAA level when he laid the hit he put on Buffalo Bills safety Aaron Williams on Sunday, he would have been ejected for targeting.

Rex Ryan thinks the NFL should adapt its rules to reflect the NCAA’s approach to targeting for the sake of player safety.

Williams, who missed most of the 2015 season with a neck injury that was serious enough to threaten his career, was lying on the field without moving immediately after the hit. He left the game immediately after the injury and was able to walk off the field under his own power, but was taken immediately to the hospital for a precautionary MRI and observation.

The Bills said Williams would be re-evaluated Monday. The injury is more complex for Williams after he underwent neck fusion surgery for the injury that ended his 2015 season.

Landry was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for a hit on a defenseless player, and he was contrite following the game.

“If I could take that hit back, I would,” Landry said, via Charles Trainor, Jr., of the Miami Herald. “The guy has a family to feed and this is his livelihood. You never want to see that with anybody.”

Rex Ryan said he has so much respect for Landry, but it doesn’t change his perspective on the play itself.

“Never need to launch, hit a guy in the head or neck,” Ryan said. “They say it’s a football play. It wasn’t ... I’m sure Landry realized it was a mistake.”

Ryan believes that the league should consider ejecting players for targeting, like the NCAA does. In college football, when targeting is called, the officials have the ability to review the play to confirm that an ejection is in fact warranted.

Targeting doesn’t just include helmet-to-helmet hits. It’s any forcible contact with the head or neck area, and it can be delivered by the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder. It includes a player launching from the ground to hit an opponent in the head or neck area, leading with the helmet, forearm, hand, fist, elbow or shoulder to strike the head or neck area, or leading with the crown of the helmet to hit an opponent in the head or neck.

The NFL incorporated new rules this offseason that allow players to be ejected for earning two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for taunting or fighting. The type of hit that Landry was flagged for, however, isn’t included.

Landry was actually flagged for taunting earlier in the game when he did taunt the Bills’ bench, and officials announced that he would be ejected if he received another unsportsmanlike penalty for taunting. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Landry received, however, didn’t warrant removing him from the game under the current rules.

It’s an interesting dichotomy for the NFL, with its stated commitment to player safety and its demonstrated disdain for things like fun touchdown dances. It would seem that establishing the threat of ejection for actions that can seriously harm another player might be a better use of the league’s time and energy than fining Antonio Brown for twerking.

Bills center Eric Wood raised that very question following the game.

“I thought ‘that’s garbage,’” Wood said. “Who knows if he knows he’s had prior neck injuries, but we’ll see if he gets fined more for that than the guys dancing.”

The NFL does reserve the right to eject flagrant offenders for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, which would include “extremely objectionable, conspicuous, unnecessary, avoidable, or gratuitous” hits, but opted not to do so with Landry. Perhaps the league should reconsider their priorities and place a greater emphasis on rules that preserve player safety.