T.J. Hockenson helicoptered through the air and slammed head-first into the ground, and then the world went black.
He regained consciousness a few moments later, but the damage had been done. The first concussion of his career was a result of trying to hurdle one defender before getting thrown to the ground by another in the Lions' loss to the Chiefs in Week 4. It was another example of one of the more dangerous maneuvers in football.
That said, Hockenson won't be removing the hurdle from his repertoire.
"No, I'm going to go out there and play the game. I'm not worried about anything else," Hockenson said Wednesday, two and a half weeks after the incident. "Whether that opportunity presents itself or not, I'm not going to change anything based on one thing."
Hockenson spent two weeks in concussion protocol, but didn't miss a game thanks to Detroit's Week 5 bye. He said his recovery went about as well as he could have expected.
"I was actually pleasantly surprised. I was back to normal in a couple hours, so it wasn't crazy. The coaching staff, the medical staff here did all the right steps in order to get me back, and it also helped that we had extra time."
The injury sent a scare through Ford Field. Hockenson's head took the brunt of his fall, and he remained on the turf for several minutes as he was tended to by the training staff. Matt Patricia came to his aid as well. Hockenson was eventually carted off to cheers from the crowd, but the initial sight was hard to shake.
Hockenson, for his part, has put it behind him.
"It's part of the game, something that we've all signed up for. Something that everyone's willing to do for our living," he said. "That's what we're here for. It's something that happens and you've got to move on from it."
In his return to action, Hockenson caught four passes on six targets for 21 yards against the Packers. His most critical play was a dropped touchdown in the second quarter that would have put the Lions up 17-0. They would lose by one.
It wasn't Hockenson's first red zone drop this season, a surprise after he was Detroit's most sure-handed receiver during training camp.
"It's tough," he said. "Obviously, I'm my own biggest critic. You'll always see me figuring out what I did wrong, what I'm able to do better. That's what I'm going to do this week and we're going to move on."
Through the first five games of his career, Hockenson has 15 catches on 25 targets for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad for a rookie. But excluding his historic debut against the Cardinals, Hockenson has just nine catches for 56 yards and a touchdown over his last four games.
He'll look to pick it up Sunday versus the Vikings.
"You have to take it week by week. This is a long season compared to college," he said. "You have to take it week by week, forget what happened last week and move on to this week. Good or bad, forget about it and move on."
