Richard Sherman, Cameron Jordan Rip NFL Rule After William Hayes' Injury

On Sunday, Miami Dolphins defensive lineman Williams Hayes tore his ACL, ending his season, on a play in which he was trying to avoid putting his full body weight on Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr:

A number of NFL players responded to that news Monday, including Richard Sherman and Cameron Jordan:

The NFL's rules for protecting quarterbacks have come under major fire this year. As Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com noted, the rule changes this year put the onus on defenders to avoid "landing on the quarterback when taking him to the ground." 

Dolphins defensive lineman Akeem Spence was critical of the new rule following Hayes' injury, per Wolfe:

"It sucks because he was trying to protect the quarterback while still trying to make the play, and it's a double-edged sword. What do you expect us to do? We know the rule, but we don't know the ins and outs. And then I saw Clay Matthews, he had another one yesterday. What do you want the guy to do? You gotta put the guy down. How much is too much weight? What technique do you use? How do you go about it? We are still asking questions just like y'all are."

Matthews, who has been called for several controversial roughing the passer calls this year, also criticized the league Sunday after getting penalized yet again for what appeared to be a clean hit on Alex Smith, per Chuck Schilken of the Los Angeles Times:

"When you're tackling a guy from the front, you're going to land on him. I understand the spirit of the rule. When you have a hit like that, that's a football play. I even went up to Alex Smith after the game and asked him: What do you think? What can I do differently?

"That's a football play. I hit him from the front, got my head across, wrapped up. I've never heard of anybody tackling somebody without any hands. When he gives himself up as soon as you hit him, your body weight is going to go on him."

It's hard to imagine the NFL won't review the new rules protecting quarterbacks and their application at some point given the backlash toward them early in the season. Regardless, the Dolphins are now without one of their key defensive players in Hayes, who led the team with two sacks this season and appeared primed to have a big year.