Read option QBs can indeed be hit like runners

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and his team are upset. They believe the Green Bay Packers are going to specifically target quarterback Colin Kaepernick when he runs the read option in Sunday’s game between the two teams.

“You’re hearing a lot of tough talk right now. You’re hearing some intimidating type of talk, the same thing we were hearing a couple years ago,” Harbaugh said Wednesday via ESPN.com. “It sounds a lot like targeting a specific player. You definitely start to wonder.”

“A man will usually tell you his bad intentions if you just listen. You know what’s being said publicly, not what’s being said privately. You hope that their intent isn’t going to be anything that’s not within the rules.”

On Thursday, the NFL distributed an officiating video to the media confirming that quarterbacks on the run can indeed be hit like any other player.

“He is still treated as a runner until he is clearly out of the play,” NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino said via Pro Football Talk. “The quarterback makes the pitch, he’s still a runner — he can be hit like a runner until he’s clearly out of the play.”

Since the read option has become such a trend in the league, the NFL had to confirm these rules.

“The quarterback and the running back, they’re both treated as runners. We don’t know who has the football, we don’t know who’s going to take it, so both players are treated as runners,” Blandino said.