Tyler Higbee suffers exact same injury as TJ Hockenson after hits from Lions safety

"I don’t have no intention to hurt no body and or harm their career."

Author:
Jonathan Harrison
Publish date:
Jan 17, 2024 3:16 PM EST

Rams tight end Tyler Higbee tore his MCL and ACL in the Rams' loss to the Lions Sunday in the wild card round of the playoffs.

Higbee's knee buckled when Lions safety Kerby Joseph hit the tight end in the legs late in the game Sunday. Joseph had a nearly identical hit on Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson on Christmas Eve that ended in the same results, torn MCL and ACL and a season ended for the Vikings tight end.

Joseph has come under scrutiny for the hits. The safety responded on social media to the criticism saying, "I don’t have no intention to hurt no body and or harm their career."

Vikings safety Harrison Smith jumped into the online conversation about those types of hits saying he's not a fan of them but the NFL's "rules have encouraged more hits like that from the DB position...most effective way to protect that area of the field without penalty... I don't like it either."

Rams head coach Sean McVay said because of the timing of Higbee's injury he is likely to start the 2024 season on the PUP list.