Late in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions, Tyler Higbee went down with a knee injury that would prevent him from returning. He went up for a high pass and as he came down, Lions safety Kerby Joseph delivered a shot to his knee, causing it to buckle.
Higbee has since been diagnosed with a torn ACL and MCL, and Matthew Stafford felt it was a dirty hit from the start.
Immediately after Higbee went down, Stafford ran over to Kerby and had some words with him. He called the safety “dirty as (expletive)” and said “it’s been on tape.”
“Hey! Hey! That’s a good hit. That’s a good hit,” Stafford said. “You’re dirty as (expletive), though. And you know it. You’re dirty as (expletive). It’s been on tape. I’ve seen it. It’s been on tape. You’re right. You’re right.”
Matthew Stafford was not happy with Lions DB Kerby Joseph after he hit Tyler Higbee lowpic.twitter.com/vafLiodx69
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) January 18, 2024
Joseph has said he never intended to injure anyone or hurt their careers, but this is now the second time in a month that he’s caused a tight end to suffer a torn ACL. He did the same to Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson in December, forcing him to miss the rest of the season.
No flag was thrown on Joseph for the hit on Higbee and it’s technically not a foul, but it’s unfortunate that the play resulted in a serious knee injury for Higbee.