One of the game's hottest young quarterbacks, less than 11 months removed from tearing his ACL, crossed the 40-yard line at full speed. Joe Burrow had the option to slide down like he was legging out a double. Instead, he kept sprinting until two Green Bay Packers defenders converged on the Cincinnati Bengals' star for a high-low hit that made everyone in Paul Brown Stadium uneasy.
Including the opposing quarterback.
"Slide. You're too damn talented," said Aaron Rodgers, recalling on The Pat McAfee Show what he told Burrow after that Week 5 game. "You've got so much in front of you to accomplish in this league. Sometimes you gotta slide. I would have said the same thing to Andrew [Luck]."
Sliding while outside of the pocket has become a staple for quarterbacks as the league works to protect its prized assets. Yet despite years of goofs, fumbles and injury risks, QBs still take unnecessary hits and jeopardize their teams' chances while stretching for a couple of extra yards. Conceding that yardage in the name of survival is hard for young, eager players to understand. Bengals coach Zac Taylor stresses to Burrow protecting the team by protecting yourself.
"There is a time to put your head down and go get that first down," he said. "Then there are some times we just have to assess the situation and be smart and keep us on pace for the next drive. ... That's just one of the things he has to balance. I think he has done a really good job of that."
So how do NFL teams prioritize their quarterbacks sliding? What are the pros and cons of the maneuver, and which QBs are the best at it? We took a closer look at the art of the slide, including insight from a handful of current and former NFL quarterbacks and coaches and data from ESPN Stats & Information.
The master at work
No one goes leg-to-green more efficiently than Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. ESPN Stats & Information has tracked quarterback rushes on plays that finish with a slide since 2017, and during that span Wilson has a league-high 87 rushes for 729 yards on sliding plays.
His objective is clear, he says: Get the first down but "protect the team" at all costs.
"What that means is that you have to not get these horrendous hits that guys get," Wilson said. "Sliding is a critical part of protecting the ball, protecting the team and playing winning football. For me personally, I've been fortunate to play pro baseball with the Yankees, Rangers, Orioles, Rockies ... and playing college baseball. So for me, a lot of it is playing the game that I always played back in the day, and that's baseball."
Wilson -- a three-year baseball standout at NC State and fourth-round pick by the Colorado Rockies in the 2010 draft -- doesn't need to practice sliding, according to Jake Heaps, director of the Russell Wilson QB Academy. His spatial awareness and risk assessment in the moment are "incredible," Heaps said.
Wilson's mental checklist as linebackers are closing in on him includes turning the other cheek.
"You want to get down, you want to get your feet up a little bit, so you don't get your feet stuck in the ground, and get on that butt, whatever one each guy likes to slide on," Wilson said. "I like to slide on my left usually. And that's what you do."
Film study, baseball drills and ... Slip 'N Slides?
Self-preservation on the move is a 17-game calculation that many quarterbacks haven't mastered. Burrow was fortunate to avoid serious injury on the Week 5 hit. But New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones entered concussion protocol after trying to leg out a play down the sideline in Cowboys Stadium that same week, and the Carolina Panthers' Sam Darnold landed in the protocol after a blow from two Atlanta Falcons nearly dislodged his helmet in Week 8.
These plays, and many others like them, are occurring on the run -- the one place the league can't help an upright quarterback. When the QB is inside the pocket, officials will flag defenders for the mere appearance of putting their body weight atop a passer. But once the QB swings outside of it and then decides not to slide, he's free to be hit like a Derrick Henry-sized running back.
NFL teams spend millions on sports science and top-notch training facilities, but when it comes to protecting their key assets, teaching quarterbacks when and how to slide is rarely a priority. An informal poll of quarterbacks and assistant offensive coaches reveals that teams don't often rep the quarterback-slide move in practice settings. It's usually more of a conversation about how to prioritize it during a given play.
Giants coach Joe Judge did this with Jones after that Week 5 hit, reinforcing with film study and coaching points. When to slide and when to get out of bounds is "something we talk to Daniel a lot about," Judge said.
To be sure, situational sliding is not exactly easy to teach. Past tales of coaches trying it come off as goofy. The New York Jets once hired longtime Major League Baseball manager Joe Girardi to help Mark Sanchez with his sliding. And former NFL coach Jim Zorn ran Matt Hasselbeck and his Seahawks quarterbacks through Slip 'N Slide-style drills -- which came off as a parody but were actually a practice staple for the team -- with former MLB first basemen John Olerud visiting the team to help instruct.
Hasselbeck, who started 160 NFL games at quarterback over a 17-year career and is now an ESPN analyst, said the team would rep the slide constantly as a "real, serious drill," which drew funny looks from the offensive linemen. Even though Hasselbeck prefers the head-first dive, the drills helped muscle memory.
"I remember sliding in a game one time and I said, 'Did I just slide?' And the [Seattle] crowd went ballistic, because it was a known thing that we were doing it. I was like, 'Are they mocking me?'"
Some things you just can't simulate, though.
"Linebackers and safeties are so fast and aggressive in the NFL that I think some young guys aren't used to it," an NFL coordinator said. "In college, it's a different deal. The DB might let you ease into the end of the play. Not here. I think it takes time and reps for those guys to get used to the pace of it, when to get down."
NFL practices can be perfunctory. Stretch, loosen up, 7-on-7, 11-man work, special teams, etc. The thought of, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers stopping practice and ordering a 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger, with a history of injuries, to work on his sliding form seems silly. Even the Slip 'N Slide drill had its issues. Hasselbeck recalls backup Seneca Wallace catching his cleat in the tarp one day at practice and tweaking either his ankle or knee.
Plus, as a Roethlisberger teammate points out, this shouldn't be hard.
"Sliding is a pretty basic human mechanic," Steelers quarterback Josh Dobbs said. "If this guy is coming to take your head off, get out of the way."
'Help us help you'
It's just another Monday of grinding through tape at the NFL league office, which had viewed 25,148 NFL plays as of Week 12. Yes, Troy Vincent knows the exact number. The league's vice president of football operations says each play involving a potential foul is reviewed at least four times.
Vincent has seen thousands of sliding attempts over the years. And he finds himself relaying the same line in his notes to coaches: Help us help you.
"Slide early," said Vincent about the clear-cut message to coaches for their quarterbacks. "It's not necessary to show teammates you're tough. Why try to get an extra yard on a Demario Davis? Why?"
The league has worked hard to protect quarterbacks inside the pocket, with defenders penalized for head-and-neck-area hits and applying body weight on a quarterback as he goes to the ground. But outside of it, non-sliding quarterbacks are treated like any runner -- subject to a "vicious blow," as Vincent said. Run-pass option plays are particularly dangerous for quarterbacks, said Vincent, who prefers them to stay under center or in shotgun.
When watching film, Vincent can tell early in a play when a defensive back will pull back on a running QB or prepare for the hit, based on the quarterback's tendencies.
"The actual defender, he's running up to really tag him off," said Vincent, an accomplished former NFL defensive back over a 15-year career. "It's with the quarterback, in particular -- when he's taking his time to slide, it's like, don't put the ref in that situation. If he waits, he's not completely protected. ... He might give you an east-west [move] and give you some hips, trying to put you on SportsCenter. The defender knows he needs to put shoulder pads or helmet on him at that point."
The when-to-slide calculation
Sage Rosenfels doesn't recall sliding in a practice during his time as an NFL quarterback from 2002 to '10. But he remembers discussions in quarterback rooms about the merits of sliding less to avoid a hit. He and teammates watched videos of Drew Brees and Matt Ryan instead diving headfirst into crevices of the defense, protecting themselves while gaining yardage.
Sure, that tactic risks turning over the ball in a crucial moment, like former Giants QB Eli Manning did in 2010. But sometimes a lost ball beats a lost soul.
"When you slide, you're literally saying, 'I trust a linebacker to not completely kill me,'" Rosenfels said. "I never trusted those guys to let up. So I always felt like if I slid I was completely exposed."
And even if the linebacker or safety lets up, those "little hits" that go unpenalized take a toll. Rosenfels said he has seen Chicago Bears starter Justin Fields take several of those this year. (Fields currently has a rib injury from a Week 11 rushing attempt.)
"The referees will tell you this, too: If you slide late, you're looking for trouble," Hasselbeck said.
Two other issues complicate the calculation for a quarterback: artificial turf and down-and-distance. Turf isn't as soft as a baseball infield, so "sometimes you're worried about twisting an ankle or hurting your knee," Rosenfels said. And from a competitive standpoint, it can be easier to judge the necessary yardage for a first down when upright or facing forward.
"No QB wants to go back in the huddle after sliding two yards short on third-and-6," Dobbs said. "That plays into it."
In 2018, the NFL took a bit of that out of the equation with a rule change. Today, diving head first is judged as a player giving himself up, and the ball is marked at the point where he first touches the ground.
"Sliding is not actually a safe thing," said Hasselbeck. "Sliding doesn't give you any real extra yardage. If you slide too late and your head hits the ground, that's where problems happen."
Just like sliding into second base
Data is clear that players with a background in sliding -- thanks to baseball -- have greater success doing it on a football field.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray bears closest resemblance to a modern Bo Jackson. Murray was a top-10 pick in two drafts: No. 9 overall to the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB draft and No. 1 overall to the Cardinals a year later in the NFL draft. The MVP candidate is nearly as proficient as Wilson when sliding; he is tied for second behind him with 37 rushing slides while racking up 284 yards (since 2017).
Vincent marvels at how Murray slides and "pops up" with ease, up and down before a defender can blink.
"He feels that sixth sense," Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said. "For him, it was developed at a young age. He's always been the smallest player on the field, so he's found a soft spot and been able to get out of trouble. It just continues to show up."
Most quarterbacks don't have Murray's mobility and rushing ability, and given injuries that can happen inside the pocket, they must find a get-down method that works best for them.
"There's an art to coaching your guy," Hasselbeck said. "[The goal is] let's just have a little less adventure on a throwaway."
Baseball is not a prerequisite for sliding, but it certainly helps. Tied for second with Murray in total slides since 2017 is Rodgers, who was a prep baseball standout. He has 348 yards on 37 rushes. Right behind them is Buffalo Bills signal-caller Josh Allen (32 attempts for 276 yards), who also once swung a bat.
The baseball connection extends to Kansas City Chiefs passer Patrick Mahomes, a star pitcher in high school, and briefly a Texas Tech reliever, who has 179 yards off 26 rushes ending with a slide. Mahomes ranks seventh among QBs, behind Cam Newton (27 for 224 yards). Jameis Winston, who is tied for eighth in sliding rushes (22 for 143 yards) despite not playing much in 2020, split time between baseball and football at Florida State.
The contact alternative
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is either too fast to get hit or welcomes contact on a given play. Regardless, he's not sliding.
Jackson is tied for 48th among active quarterbacks since 2017 with three slide rushes for 29 yards. That's out of more than 600 career rushing attempts.
Teams want their quarterbacks yielding a low percentage of contact absorption per rush. No QB takes more hits on the run than Jackson, who had contact 467 times on 605 rushes (77.2%). The next closest is Newton, who has seen contact 307 times on 398 rushes (77.1%), followed by Allen (251 contact rushes on 369 total rushes, 68%). All three players are byproducts of offensive systems that demand tough running from quarterbacks who can handle it and are highly skilled at it.
But for all of Jackson's otherworldly ability, a 212-pound player absorbing this many hits leaves some around the league wondering about his long-term viability. The hits affected Newton's prowess, and he has about 30 pounds on Jackson. Newton is listed at 245, while Allen is 237 pounds.
Among quarterbacks taking the least pounding is Rodgers, whose 32.6% contact rate (57 of 175) is the best among QBs with at least 100 rushes since 2017. Las Vegas Raiders signal-caller Derek Carr is close at 32.9% (46 of 140). Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert (45 of 98, 45.9%) has a better clip than Wilson (169 of 344, 49.1%) and Murray (149 of 275, 54.2%).
But there's one thing Jackson, Newton, Allen and other run-heavy QBs engender that's tough to replicate: Toughness. Teammates love to see their leader getting that extra yard in a key game.
"The respect you gain from teammates for laying it all on the line is big," Rosenfels said.
It's just important to remember that attempts to earn street cred can also sabotage a season if a top-flight passer goes down due to injury. And that's why the league and coaching staffs encourage sliding at every turn.
ESPN's Jordan Raanan and Ben Baby contributed to this story. All QB slide data is through Week 11 of the 2021 season.