Vikings' O'Connell defends Jay Ward for hit that injured Zach Ertz

A play late in the third quarter of Sunday's Vikings-Commanders game ended in a result no one ever wants to see.

With Washington tight end Zach Ertz trying to haul in a pass from Marcus Mariota, Minnesota safety Jay Ward broke on the play and lowered his shoulder to hit Ertz. Unfortunately, the impact ravaged Ertz's leg, causing a feared ACL tear and potentially other ligament tears as well. The 35-year-old tight end, who is in his 13th NFL season, was understandably emotional as he was carted off the field. At his age, there's a chance that was his final snap in the league.

Praying for Zach Ertzpic.twitter.com/F6Q9cXLG00
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) December 7, 2025

Many Commanders fans on social media took umbrage with the hit from Ward, calling it a dirty play because of where the hit occurred. Asked about the hit on Monday, Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell defended his player, saying he knows there was no malicious intent behind it.

"I hate seeing those things happen," O'Connell said. "Just thinking about the rules that these defensive players have to play with, I know for a fact there was no bad intent behind that play. Things are happening fast out there, you gotta be very aware of where guys' head and neck area are on those plays.

"The unique thing about that is it wasn't like Zach's foot was planted on the ground, where you see some of those injuries. He left the ground to make a play and was still in the air when that collision happened. Unless we start shrinking the strike zone to go along with the top side and start talking about 'from the ground up' and giving these guys a very, very tiny window to try to make a play...

"It's easy to play it back and slo-mo it and start to develop hypotheses on things, but the game is happening very, very fast. I always encourage people, when you're down on the field, to take in just how violent and fast the game is, because you just hate seeing stuff like that. It's the worst part of our game. And in many ways, I do believe it's unavoidable in certain instances. Our job is to coach up the guys to make sure, if it avoidable, to do those things. Not only for their health, but for the other side as well."

Ideally, Ward would've hit Ertz closer to the midsection on that play. But the higher a defender goes, the closer they get to being on the wrong side of things in terms of risking penalty or injury by hitting a receiver's head or neck area. This was a hit from Ward's shoulder to Ertz's quad that ended in an unfortunate manner. Ertz being in mid-air and Ward not leaving his feet are two factors that differentiate it from the infamous Kerby Joseph hit that tore T.J. Hockenson's ACL a couple years ago.

We'll see if the NFL doles out any discipline to Ward for the play, which did not draw a flag.

Hopefully Ertz can recover and return to the league next season. O'Connell said he had a chance to speak with him on Sunday night.

"Got a chance to connect with Zach last night a little bit, just because I've had a relationship with him but I've always just thought the absolute world of him as a player," O'Connell said. "Just wanted to connect with him a little bit in a very casual way."

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