Midway through a Week 16 matchup against the Detroit Lions last season, Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson caught a pass over the middle of the field and proceeded to try to gain some additional yards after his reception.
However, Lions safety Kerby Joseph cut Hockenson's attempt short by launching his helmet directly into the knee of the Vikings tight end. Due to Joseph's low hit, Hockenson suffered a torn ACL, and he wasn't able to play this season until Week 9.
A few weeks after sending Hockenson home early, Joseph delivered a similar low hit to the knees of Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee. Unfortunately, Higbee also suffered a torn ACL as a result of the dirty hit by the Detroit defender, and he still hasn't appeared in a game yet this season.
Well, on Thursday, Joseph seemed to be up to his old tricks again when the Lions took on the Green Bay Packers inside Detroit's Ford Field.
Unlike Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson, Green Bay Packers TE escapes dirty hit attempt by Detroit Lions DB Kerby Joseph
Heading into Thursday's NFC North battle, Packers tight end Tucker Kraft talked about potentially getting some revenge for his tight end "brothers" if he and Joseph met out on the field. This didn't exactly end up happening, but at the very least, Kraft was actually able to avoid another low-hit attempt by the Lions safety during Thursday's game.
Near the end of the third quarter, the Green Bay tight end caught a pass, and after gaining a few extra yards, Joseph had an opportunity to make the tackle. But Kraft knew what was coming, and instead of becoming the latest tight end to suffer an unnecessary knee injury from a Joseph hit, he was able to avoid the tackle attempt completely (Joseph is No. 31 in the clip below).
Tucker Kraft. Wait for it... Athlete 😳#GBvsDET on Prime Video
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Kraft ended up gaining a total of 21 yards on the play, and shortly after, the Packers wound up scoring a touchdown. Had Joseph not attempted to take the Green Bay tight end out by the knees, perhaps he could have actually made the tackle. But that wasn't his intention, was it?
It's one thing to try to tackle a much larger opposing player low around the ankles because that might be the only way for a smaller defensive back to get them down. But what Joseph is doing by blatantly attempting to take out an opposing player's knees is something that can only be described as dirty.
Detroit wants to be known as a physical team that won't back down from anyone, and for the most part, they are able to execute this strategy without purposely trying to end the seasons, and possibly the careers, of their opponents with dirty hits.
The same can't be said for Joseph, though. What he's doing is reckless and intentional, and hopefully, players avoiding his attempts to deliver career-altering low hits, as Kraft was able to do on Thursday, becomes more of the norm moving forward.