Injuries are a huge part of football . Every team experiences them, and the Minnesota Vikings are no exception.
Against the Seattle Seahawks, only cornerback Fabian Moreau missed the game, with outside linebacker Pat Jones II and running back Aaron Jones getting injured during Sunday's game.
It's normal to see injuries, but it's more frustrating when they happen during a potentially dirty hit.
Brian Flores comments on hit that injured Pat Jones II
Jones was injured on a low block from Packers tight end Tucker Kraft on a jet motion block. It had many on social media saying the hit was dirty.
There are a lot of different elements to that hit. Kraft is going in motion with momentum and goes low instead of staying high. That had Vikings edge rusher Jonathan Greenard calling out the block and saying it should be banned.
That had Packers head coach Matt LaFleur all fired up and vehemently defended Kraft's actions.
“It’s the same thing that their guys were doing to our defensive ends, OK?” LaFleur began. “It’s a cross-sift. It’s a totally legal play. You’ve got to defeat the block, and there’s a lot of different ways to do it. Cox (Packers defensive end Brenton Cox Jr.) got sawed off by (Vikings tight end) Johnny Mundt one time and they got somebody else. They did it to us twice in the game. What are we talking about? I get it. As a defensive player, they don’t like it. I think Troy’s (NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent) already come out and said that he wants to eliminate low blocks around the league. But that is — it’s part of the game. So if you don’t want to get those types of blocks, you can’t be so out of control.”
LaFleur also mentioned a "safety who I won't name" who has injured multiple receivers with low hits. That safety is Detroit Lions' Kerby Joseph, who is responsible for the torn ACLs of both T.J. Hockenson and Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee.
Naturally, Flores was going to be asked about it and he was very honest about it, talking about how the league tried to ban the hit but it's still legal.
"I mean, it's a legal play, you know, letter of the law. It's a legal play. I know there was some discussions about getting that one out. Obviously, that one didn't pass. I think when the jet motions, those become hard because you're generating some speed, you're generating some force, and it can be, I guess dangerous is the word to use, but you I'm sure that's all going to be talked about, and the intent of the entire play. But overall, I mean, it's legal. There's not much you can really say about it. thankfully, Pat's wasn't like a season-ending thing, and he's kind of day-to-day. But yeah, I mean, it's, stuff to watch, as we all saw. But thankfully, it's good,"
This type of hit is likely to be explored during the offseason like the hip drop tackle was last year. It's certainly a legal play, but in terms of player safety, maybe it shouldn't be.
