Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph has faced a lot of criticism this week after his low tackle on Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee resulted in a serious knee injury. But he doesn’t sound all that worried about the criticism.
“I’m cool. I’m used to being the villain,” Joseph said Thursday according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
After the hit, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford expressed his displeasure with Joseph, saying “You’re dirty as [expletive], and you know it. You’re dirty as [expletive],” while also saying it was a “good hit.”
Joseph said that he didn’t know why Stafford reacted to the hit the way that he did. He wasn’t sure if Stafford was reacting to the hit itself or his celebration to the hit.
“To be honest, I don’t really know,” Joseph said. “It was the quickest thing, so I don’t even know what his intentions was, for real. On the celebration part, I wasn’t celebrating that I hurt him. I kind of didn’t really peep that he was hurt, for real. But like I said, prayers out to that boy and his family. Like the game we play, just stuff happens.”
But Joseph reiterates that he was not trying ot injure Higbee, saying he “just wanted to make a tackle, really.”
