“The refs we have are very good. If they make a call on that, great. If they don’t, that’s fine.’’
Porter was asked if he felt as if Brady was playing by a different set of rules.
“No question,’’ Porter said. “When a guy can tell a ref when to throw a flag and he gets it and stuff like that, he got his own rules. They made the whole [rule that you] don’t go at the legs because of Tom. So when he feels that someone is coming at his legs, he just points at the ref and he gets a flag. So you gotta honestly say that he gets his own rules.’’
Patriots’ opponents have been flagged five times for roughing the passer through seven games. Atlanta’s Jamaal Anderson was called in Week 3, Baltimore’s Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs each drew such penalties the next week, and two weeks after that, Tennessee’s Chris Hope and Tony Brown were flagged.
The Patriots have been called for roughing the passer three times - twice in the opener against Buffalo (Adalius Thomas, Vince Wilfork), and once against the Broncos in Week 5 (Ty Warren.)
Ravens defenders, most prominently Ray Lewis, were vocal about calls they felt were out of line after their loss in Foxborough. Both roughing calls on Baltimore came on New England touchdown drives, and one converted a third down.
Brady said he tries not to concern himself with how penalties are called, but he is happy safeguards are in place to protect quarterbacks.
“I don’t think about [the rules] very often,’’ Brady said. “We’re standing back there, trying to make the plays, you can’t think about it. And we’re not the only ones. Rules are in place that protect the quarterback, protect the kicker, protect defenseless receivers, defensive linemen on cut blocks. I just don’t see it as a quarterback issue. We’re just the ones holding the ball, so it’s pretty visible when it happens.
