Brady says receivers should have legs protected like other players

— -- FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Four days after tight end Rob Gronkowski was carted off the field with a bone bruise/sprain of his right knee, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hopes the NFL will consider rule changes for low hits on pass-catchers.

"It's obviously a contact sport, guys are going to get hit, [but] I do think they should change some of those rules with those defenseless receivers," Brady said in his Wednesday news conference.

"Quarterbacks get their legs protected. Defensive linemen get their legs protected. Linebackers get their legs protected. I don't see why a defenseless receiver shouldn't get his legs protected as well."

The topic was brought up to Brady in the context of a quarterback's responsibility to not put his pass-catchers in dangerous situations from an injury perspective. Brady had not been asked specifically about possible rule changes to protect defenseless receivers.

On the play that Gronkowski was injured Sunday night, Brady's throw was slightly behind him. Broncos defensive back Darian Stewart hit Gronkowski low on the incomplete pass as Gronkowski's leg whipped back as it made contact with Stewart.

"You hate to throw the ball to a position where your player, certainly one of your receivers, is in a vulnerable position," Brady said. "So it gets tough, and you always try to gauge how close a defender is and his ability to close on the ball, and so forth. It's a real hard thing for a quarterback. ...

"You know when a defender is in certain positions where you can't throw to your guy. You never want to throw into a certain zone where a guy is just eyeing you and lining your receiver up and it's a big blowup. There are a lot of times it's out-breaking routes and there's a corner that's sitting outside, and they come from the outside in and hit your receiver. You never really want to do that. We talk about that all the time."