‘Hate seeing those things happen’ — Kevin O’Connell comments on controversial play the Vikings know all too well

Jay Ward’s hit on Zach Ertz that tore his ACL may have appeared to be dirty, but it certainly wasn’t.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Dec 7, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz (86) is carted off the field after an injury during the second half at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Over the course of the last few years, the Minnesota Vikings have become accustomed to seeing big hits to their players result in injuries. The biggest of them all was tight end T.J. Hockenson, who suffered a torn ACL against the Detroit Lions on this hit from Kerby Joseph. He hit Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee the same way two weeks later.

Many Vikings fans were claiming that this was a dirty hit due to the nature of how Josephy made the hit. Instead of going high, he went low, and it sparked a lot of discussion about tackling. On Sunday, Vikings safety Jay Ward made a similar hit on Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz, and it tore his ACL as well.

Kevin O’Connell defends the hit from Jay Ward on Zach Ertz

It’s never easy to see a player end up getting hurt playing football, especially one like this. Head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke about both the player and the hit itself on Monday.

“I hate seeing those things happen,” said O’COnnell. Got a chance to connect with Zach last night a little bit, because I’ve had a relationship with him, but I’ve always thought the absolute world of him as a player and wanted to connect with him a little bit in a very casual way.”

This is exactly what we expect from O’Connell on a regular basis. He is always thinking of the players from a human element, likely because he was a former player. Because of that, he connects with them on a different level.

Even so, O’Connell understands football from a different level, including what is and isn’t dirty, which he didn’t think Ward’s hit was.

“It wasn’t anything significant but thinking about the rules that these defensive players have to play with, I know for a fact there was no bad intent behind that play where things are happening fast out there. You got to be very aware of where guys’ head and neck areas are on those plays, and the unique thing about that is it wasn’t like Zach’s foot was planted on the ground, where you see some of those injuries,” said O’Connell.

O’Connell makes a really good point. The awareness of the head and neck area is such a focus due to concussions that leg injuries are an unintended consequence of that focus

“Like I said, unless we start shrinking the strike zone to go along with the top side and start talking about from the ground up and giving these guys a very tiny window to try to make a play. It’s easy to
play it back and slow mo it and start to develop hypotheses on things, but the game is happening
very fast,” O’Connell continued. “I always encourage people, when you’re down on the field, to take in just how violent and fast the game is, because you hate seeing stuff like that, regardless of colored jersey or sides. It’s the worst part of our game, and in many ways, I do believe it’s unavoidable in certain instances.”

Like with most plays, the answer is never as simple as you think it is, and this hit is just the unfortunate reality of a brutally physical game.

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