Tom Brady: Refs Aren't Robots, Not Trying to Get Roughing the Passer Penalties Wrong

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady addressed the recent string of questionable roughing the passer penalties that have happened around the NFL.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Brady said he doesn't think the referees are robots and they aren't "trying to get it wrong" when they throw flags after a quarterback is hit.

Brady and the Bucs benefited from a questionable penalty called in Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Grady Jarrett appeared to sack Brady clean for a loss of 10 yards on 3rd-and-5 with 3:03 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Falcons trailing 21-15. The officials called Jarrett for roughing the passer, giving the Bucs a fresh set of downs.

Tampa Bay picked up another first down and was able to run out the clock to preserve the win.

Referee Jerome Boger told reporters after the game that Jarrett "unnecessarily" threw Brady to the ground.

During his weekly appearance on 680 The Fan (h/t USA Today's Victoria Hernandez), Jarrett said he was in "a lot of disbelief" about the penalty being called.

On the heels of the controversy involving Brady, Monday's game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs saw another questionable roughing the passer penalty called.

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones sacked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and had possession of the football when both players landed on the ground. Instead of being credited with a sack and fumble recovery, Jones was assessed a 15-yard penalty and the Raiders retained possession.

Referee Carl Cheffers told reporters after the game that Jones landed on Carr with his full body weight and the quarterback "is protected from being tackled with full body weight."

The Chiefs erased a 17-point deficit to defeat the Raiders 30-29, so the call didn't impact the final outcome of the game in the same way it may have in the Falcons-Bucs contest.

Per Rob Maadi of the Associated Press, the NFL plans to discuss the roughing the passer penalty during next week's owners meetings in New York.

There are currently no plans to make changes to the rule, but recommendations can be made by the competition committee or teams that would then be voted upon by all 32 club owners.

At least 24 owners would have to vote in favor of a rule in order for it to be changed.