Kerby Joseph made one of the biggest defensive plays in the Lions' win over the Rams Sunday night, and wound up in the middle of the NFL's latest clean-or-dirty debate. Joseph went low to break up a pass from Matthew Stafford to tight end Tyler Higbee, who is feared to have suffered a torn ACL from the force of Joseph's helmet to his knee.
To which fellow Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson says, "Man, if anybody feel like that sh*t was dirty, bro, if anybody on the Rams feel like it was dirty, then tell his quarterback don’t put the ball in no place where he can get his player hurt, you hear (Tom) Brady say it all the time."
The Rams objected to the hit on the field, which broke up a potential first down in Detroit territory on LA's final drive of the game. Instead of having the ball near the Lions' 30, the Rams punted three plays later and never got their offense on the field again.
Asked about the play, Joseph said, "Seen the ball thrown, just broke on it and then made the tackle, man, and then he coughed it up. I’m praying for him, hope he heal up OK. And that’s about it, don’t wanna say too much on that."
Based on the NFL rulebook, Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone said going low was Joseph's only choice. If he went high, he'd risk A) not making the play or B) getting flagged 15 yards for a hit to the head.
"Honestly, it’s what this league is now," said Anzalone. "You have to go low, you can’t go high and it’s a clinic tackle, in my opinion. I know they exchanged words after, but there’s nothing else that we can do defensively now. That’s what the league office wants.
"It’s a huge play, obviously. Forced incompletion. And definitely, putting that on film is good to deter offenses from throwing that ball in the future. And that’s on the quarterback to take care of his receivers. That was just a clutch play in the game that ended up helping us win."
Joseph later said via X that he has "no intention to hurt nobody and or harm their career" Gardner-Johnson said "Kirb is a ballplayer" and reiterated that "if the quarterback don’t want any players to get hurt or messed up, don’t put it where our safeties are gonna make a play."
Jared Goff, who calls Higbee "one of my best friends" after they spent five seasons together on the Rams, checked in on his former teammate after the game and said that it was difficult to see him go down.
"It’s hard for me to sit on the sidelines and watch that. And I know he’ll be just fine. I don’t know what he’s going to end up doing, but he’ll be just fine, and I love him," said Goff.