Vikings’ TJ Hockenson says NFL needs to pay attention to low kicks

EAGON, Minn. — Vikings tight end TJ Hockenson has had a long time to think about the controversial hit that ended his 2023 season and could have taken him out of the start of 2024. Speaking publicly Monday for the first time since then, the mood Hockenson’s boiled down to seven words.

“Obviously,” he said, “I wasn’t very happy about it.”

As he continues his rehabilitation from torn ACL and MCL ligaments in his right knee, an injury he suffered on a direct hit from Detroit Lions linebacker Kerby Joseph in Week 16, Hockenson had a lot more to say. While he doesn’t accuse Joseph of intending to hurt him — or Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee on an identical playoff play — Hockenson said players should protect each other as much as possible.

He called on the NFL to look into why defenders can hit receivers on the floor low in those situations, but offensive linemen can’t block in similar areas, and said he’d rather have a concussion on a fumble than a major knee injury on a weak but legitimate contact.

“It’s tough,” Hockenson said. “It’s true. We are big guys running through the middle of the field. It’s a business and I don’t think anyone goes out on the field wanting to hurt a player like that. So, I look at it in light of that and I hope that wasn’t the intent, to hurt a player in that sense, but I think it’s going to happen a few weeks later [with Higbee]I think it’s something the league needs to look at and see what they can do.”

Hockenson and Joseph were teammates in Detroit for part of the 2022 season before the Lions traded Hockenson to the Vikings. On December 24, 2023, Hockenson had just completed a 24-yard reception over the middle when Joseph tackled him with a knee strike with the crown of the helmet.

Joseph told reporters in January that he was just trying to cope and that the injury was “unfortunate.” Coach Dan Campbell also backed Joseph, saying “that’s how we play football here” and that the intent is to hit the “thigh board” to avoid illegal hits to the head.

“I know Kerby pretty well,” Hockenson said. “I’ve played with him. I don’t necessarily think so [intended to injure]. You go back to the recording and see what happened. I know him. I don’t think it was. I just want to make sure that’s not the case and that’s why I’m using my voice here. Players protect players. It’s in every facet of the league. You don’t want a defensive guy to headhunt or kneehunt, and the same thing for an offensive guy.”

Hockenson echoed other NFL players in saying he would prefer a concussion despite the long-term risks of head injuries.

“That leaves me two weeks or three weeks,” he said. “It put me out of the season for nine months. I can’t even work out…I was going to have a normal off season while getting ready for the season. I know some [concussions] are worse than others and I don’t want to get on the train of which is worse and which is better. But I had a concussion. It took me a week. I’m just looking at it from this clean schedule.”

The Vikings have not set a firm timetable for Hockenson’s return to the field, but a standard recovery from his surgery would have him back on the field in late September or early October. He’s a key part of a Vikings offense that led the NFL in tight end targets last season (179) — and not just because receiver Justin Jefferson missed seven games with a hamstring injury.

In coach Kevin O’Connell’s two seasons with the team, the Vikings rank second in tight end targets (325) behind the Kansas City Chiefs (380), who include veteran Travis Kelce during that stretch. Hockenson accounted for 83.3% of the Vikings’ tight end targets in the games he played. In 25 career games with the team dating back to his 2022 midseason acquisition from the Lions, Hockenson has caught more passes (155) than any other tight end in the NFL, for the second-most yards (1,479) .

“You go out there trusting the defense that they’re not going to get you out,” he said. “You believe that the offense won’t get you out. You believe the players will protect each other. This is what you want. Sometimes this doesn’t happen in the heat of the game. That’s understandable. But the fact is, you don’t want a person to come and say, “I’m going to do this to this person.” I hope that’s not the case.

“And I hope that’s not the case with any player. I’m not saying it is or isn’t, but you really want players to protect other players. Whether it’s learned or not learned by the team or the league. You just want to protect another guy. That’s his livelihood, and that’s what can be done at any moment. I don’t want to be the guy that did. this. At least I don’t want to.”

Meanwhile, Jefferson did not report to the Vikings’ voluntary practice Monday, O’Connell confirmed. O’Connell said it “remains to be seen” whether Jefferson will report later this spring. “We want him here as much as we can have him, and we also understand there are a lot of factors,” O’Connell said.

Jefferson missed all of the Vikings’ voluntary workouts in 2023 before reporting for mandatory minicamp while negotiating a long-term contract extension that has yet to be resolved. At the time, he said his absence was simply the result of “a lot of things going on” not directly related to his contract.

“They didn’t really push me back either, too much. It didn’t seem like I was missing either, too much. They definitely wanted me to come back here and I wanted to come back here, but I had a lot going on.”