ESPN cameras caught a weird moment between Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and his tight end T.J. Hockenson.
During Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings were holding a 7-0 lead with over eight minutes left in the second. Minnesota was driving the ball down field, ending up with a first and goal after Cam Akers was brought down on a nice catch and run. Unfortunately, Hockenson was injured on the play, as the tight end started limping off the field before the next down.
Cameras then caught O’Connell telling Hockenson to ‘go down’ on the field, presumedly so the tight end’s injury could get looked at without him aggravating it more.
"I'll say this. We just caught Kevin O'Connell on camera saying 'T.J. go down.'" – Joe Buck pic.twitter.com/bTq56BAUXr
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 24, 2023
Some NFL fans called foul on the play, stating that O’Connell was cheating by having Hockenson go down to get additional time for their red zone play calling. However, it’s not illegal to be told to go down on the field in the event of a real injury. In fact, it’s encouraged so the player in question doesn’t hurt themselves more!
Hockenson was able to get up and continue playing and the Vikings ended up settling for a field goal on the drive.