Matthew Stafford Calls Kerby Joseph “dirty as f–k” After Tyler Higbee Injury

A fourth-quarter hit that caused a major injury was one of the low points of the Los Angeles Rams vs. Detroit Lions wild-card playoff game on Sunday. Matthew Stafford calls out the player for the same.

Matthew Stafford Calls Kerby Joseph “Dirty as f–k” After Tyler Higbee’s Injury

Lions safety Kerby Joseph struck tight end Tyler Higbee low, bending Higbee’s right knee laterally. After leaving the game, the eight-year veteran’s knee was found to have torn both the ACL and the MCL.

Following a similar hit on Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson in Week 16 that also caused major knee damage, many fans quickly criticized Joseph. Matthew Stafford, the quarterback for the Rams, responded in the same way, except he was able to address Joseph face-to-face on the field.

In the fourth quarter of the Rams’ 24-23 playoff loss in Detroit on Sunday, Joseph, 23, dove into Higbee’s knees, bending the tight end’s right knee unnaturally as he tried to catch a throw over the middle from Stafford, 35.

“Hey!” That’s a good hit. That’s a good hit. You dirty as f–k though and you know it,” Stafford could be heard saying in an on-field, mic’d up video after Joseph celebrated the play. “You dirty as f–k. It’s been on tape. I’ve seen it. It’s been on tape.”

The “tape” that Stafford could be alluding to is a virtually identical hit that occurred on Christmas Eve on Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson, which also resulted in an ACL rupture.

He defended his actions on X after the game.

“ALL SERIOUSNESS…. THIS GAME WE PLAY IS VERY DANGEROUS…. I’m praying for bro and his family I don’t have no intention to hurt no body and or harm their career I been a mf dog since I came out my mama womb and nun of y’all on here gone take that away from me,” Joseph wrote.

When questioned on Thursday over the play, Lions coach Dan Campbell backed Joseph, stating that’s how he’s always been taught.

“That’s how we play football here. Just keep your head up, see what you hit,” Campbell told reporters, including the Detroit News’s Justin Rogers.

“That will always be what I tell Kerby. Just keep your eyes up, so you don’t hit on the crown of your helmet,” he added. “You [compress] your spine, you mess yourself up there. Just see what you hit. No, he’s going for the thigh board and staying away from the head. That’s how we play defense here. Not dirty. It’s just where we hit.”

 

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