During the Green Bay Packers matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17, tight end Tucker Kraft laid a low block on linebacker Pat Jones II, which was not called a penalty but resulted in an injury to Jones.
After the game, Vikings EDGE Jonathan Greenard posted his criticism of the play on social media, describing it as dirty.
“Dude motioned from 30 yards away to STILL cut him. Pathetic. Be a man block up high. @NFL get rid of this block PLEASE.”
In response to the play and the negative comments about Kraft’s technique, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur defended what was, in his view, a legal play.
After Tucker Kraft’s block injured Vikings edge Pat Jones II yesterday, Jonathan Greenard told Kraft to “be a man” and block up high.
“It’s a cross-sift. It’s a totally legal play. You’ve got to defeat the block, and there’s a lot of different ways to do it. … I get it. As a defensive player, they don’t like it.
After Tucker Kraft’s block injured Vikings edge Pat Jones II yesterday, Jonathan Greenard told Kraft to “be a man” and block up high.
Matt LaFleur sounded off today on criticism of the play while throwing a not-so-subtle jab at Kerby Joseph, too: https://t.co/NRi8ODm0Ce
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 30, 2024
“It’s a great equalizer. That’s tough for an offense to have to deal with that, so you’ve got to have some sort of recourse to try to slow somebody down. Otherwise, you’re going to put everybody at risk – your quarterbacks, guys are just going to tee off. We’ll see what happens in the future, but it’s no different than, what are we talking about, like low tackles. You see that around the league all the time.”
Jones suffered a knee injury and did not return to the game. His status for Week 18 is unclear, although with Minnesota’s playoff spot secure, he will likely rest.
The Vikings (14-2) went on to win 27-25, completing a two-game sweep against the Packers this season. Minnesota has the NFC’s No. 1 seed with Detroit still to play their Week 17 contest against San Francisco tonight.
Green Bay (11-5) holds the No. 7 seed in the NFC and has secured a place in the postseason.
