BATON ROUGE (KATC) — Slide or not to Slide? that is the question. ‘Slide son, slide,’ is the answer LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is hearing from his head coach.
“Joe has the mentality of a fullback. He wants to go and hit the linebackers. Me and coach (Steve) Ensminger are going to have a little conversation with him,” said Ed Orgeron Monday
Protecting the LSU starting quarterback was a topic of conversation this week. Burrow was sacked twice by Southeastern Saturday and took a number of other hits.
“Two of the times that we had protection, we had a chip on and Badara (Traore) had help, but Joe (Burrow) held the ball too long and the receivers weren’t open. Those are options. We can go empty. We can go four-wide. It’s less protection. We are taking a chance of being one-on-one,” Orgeron said.
But the most talked about protection circled the unnecessary hits Burrow takes by not sliding. After Saturday’s game the 6-foot-4-inch quarterback said he would not change the way he ran the ball.
“Nah I’m not going to slide. I told coach E (Ensminger) and my teammates I’m not a slider and they never really believed me, I don’t think. But I don’t think quarterbacks should really slide. I guess there’s going to be a collision.”
Burrow took a tiny step back from that Monday, saying this he would try to protect his body a little more.
“I don’t know if I’m going to do the whole ‘Tom Brady baseball slide,’ ” he said. “But I’ll definitely try to take some hits off myself. Maybe not lower my head into four or five people every possession.”
Burrow has rushed 12 times for 46 yards and one touchdown. He been sacked 4 times in two games this year.
LSU plays at Auburn Saturday.