Colts' Gardner Minshew in the Crosshairs After Tom Brady Rant

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady was critical of Indianapolis Colts signal caller Gardner Minshew for delivering a pass that led to wideout Michael Pittman Jr. receiving a concussion.

Most Indianapolis Colts fans, if not all, probably found NFL officials justified in ejecting Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damonate Kazee for his brutal hit against Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in Week 15.

On the play, Kazee lowered his head to make helmet-to-helmet contact on Pittman, who suffered a concussion on the play. The hit seemed avoidable.

For those reasons, Colts fans were also likely pleased to see Kazee receive an indefinite suspension from the NFL as well on December 18.

But don't necessarily count seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady among them.

Brady was careful not to use any names. But in reaction to Kazee's suspension, the former Patriots quarterback appeared to place as much blame on Colts signal caller Gardner Minshew as Kazee for the big hit against Pittman.

"Nobody likes seeing players get hurt. But hard hits happen," Brady wrote. "QBs should not be throwing the ball in areas where they are exposing their own teammates to these types of hits.

"Coaches need to coach better, QBs needs to read coverages and throw the ball to the right places and defenders should aim for the right hitting areas.

"To put the blame on the defensive player all the time is just flat out wrong. Need better QB play!! It's not OK QBs to get your WRs hit because of your bad decisions!"

Tom Brady speaks on the Kazee suspension pic.twitter.com/28c3uqkMme

— Brizwald. (@chicagoBRIZ) December 18, 2023

There's no doubt that those comments from Brady will be dissected throughout this week. While Brady brought up good points, Kazee still unnecessarily lowered his head.

It wasn't the first time the NFL office took issue with a hit from Kazee, either.

But interestingly, Brady wasn't the only critic of Minshew on the play.

This is what happens when

1) Lawyers run the company

and

2) Those lawyers get to watch things in slow motion to make their decisions. At full speed, there's no way Kazee OR Pittman can adjust. This impact is 100 percent on Gardner Minshew. https://t.co/i65ezQdKxG

— Mike Frazer ✝️ (@MPFrazer) December 18, 2023

Several analysts on Twitter referred to Minshew's pass to Pittman on the play as "a hospital ball." 

Not only could one argue Minshew shouldn't have delivered the ball to Pittman, Minshew overthrew the Colts leading receiver, taking him right into Kazee.

So if Minshew's throw doesn't force Pittman to be fully extended to catch the ball, Kazee would be completely fine. But because the QB threw a bad ball that made the WR's head be lower than it should have been at contact point, he gets suspended. Absolutely insane process by NFL.

— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) December 18, 2023

Maybe if Gardner Minshew didn’t give him a hospital ball he wouldn’t have gotten smacked 🤷🏽

Why are defenders getting punished for bad QB play? https://t.co/vnhGsBUwPb

— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) December 18, 2023

Minshew is a backup quarterback for a reason. He's displayed inconsistent decision-making throughout his career. 

In all likelihood, Brady would point to Minshew's pass to Pittman where he suffered a concussion as another example of the quarterback's questionable decision-making.

However, in Minshew's defense, he was pretty spectacular the rest of Week 15. 

He completed 18 of 28 passes for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns, helping the Colts score 30 unanswered points to beat the Steelers in a critical late-season matchup.