You're never excused for missing plays in the NFL, especially when they come your way. So you don't apologize for making them. When a four-time MVP is off his game and handing out gifts, you take them and run.
When Aaron Rodgers rifled a pass off the helmet of Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes that was up for grabs in Detroit's end zone, rookie safety Kerby Jospeh went up and got it -- the first of Rodgers' three interceptions in the Lions' 15-9 win Sunday at Ford Field.
And when Rodgers underdrew another would-be touchdown on the Packers' next drive to left tackle David Bakhtiari, who was wide open in the end zone, rookie defensive end Aidan Hutchinson snared it for the first interception of his life. You'd be dancing, too.
Hutchinson said Rodgers "made some comment about me being a young pup and then he told me he gave me a freebie."
“And I was like, ‘Freebie or not, I’ll take that interception,'" Hutchinson said with a laugh. "It was cool, man. It was a cool moment. That’s my first-ever pick in football."
Indeed, for all of Hutchinson's success on the gridiron, he said he'd never snagged an interception -- not in college at Michigan, not in high school or pop warner, not even somewhere along the way in practice. He finally got one on Sunday, "and I got it" he said, "against one of the best.”
Joseph snared another pick in the second half -- and this one was no gift -- to add another highlight to the Lions' best defensive performance of the season. Boy did they need it.
"We were playing lights out, for the most part," said Hutchinson. "They were getting yards, but we were getting stops that we needed, which is all that matters on defense. And Kerby was balling out. Kerby’s a turnover machine, we love it. And I got one of my own, so I will take it.”
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Among other unsightly stats, the Lions entered the game allowing an NFL-high passer rating of 108.5. Rodgers entered the game with a career passer rating against the Lions of 108.8. And then Detroit's defense held him to a rating of 53.5, the fifth lowest mark of his Hall of Fame career.
You don't apologize for that.
"Earlier in the week, we came together as a defense and got real with each other," said Hutchinson. "That doesn’t necessarily equate to the success, but I thought we definitely were more on the same page, and that was critical.
"Being in this kind of locker room and experiencing what it's like to win again, we want this. And moving forward, we are going to keep grinding no matter what.”
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