Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he showed the team film of outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel’s tackle for loss against the Detroit Lions this week.
On it, Van Ginkel, who was returning from a neck injury, is run into by Lions wide receiver Kalif Raymond, crossing the field from his left. The force of the collision knocked the 242-pound Van Ginkel over, but he brought down Jahmyr Gibbs for a 2-yard loss without even fully getting up.
The play was made even more notable by the fact that Van Ginkel and at least one teammate said Wednesday that Raymond’s blow didn’t seem quite legal.
“I kind of thought it was a dirty play,” Van Ginkel said. “Obviously, getting hit on the side. I’m just going to pass rush, and all of a sudden I get whiplash. A guy blindsides me. I’m not going to go into too much detail about it, but I wasn’t too pleased with it. And I think it’s something the league should look at if it’s something they need to take out of the game because we can’t be doing that.”
Van Ginkel added later: “I had no clue he was there. How are we supposed to protect ourselves in those cases?”
He fell right at the feet of the Lions offensive lineman he was supposed to beat. Gibbs stepped over him trying to run his route, and Lions quarterback Jared Goff dumped the ball to Gibbs while he was still at Van Ginkel’s feet.
In talking about the play, O’Connell mentioned the “instinctiveness” Van Ginkel plays with. Van Ginkel seems to eye the ball leaving Goff’s hands to Gibbs’ before it does, sits up and wraps up Gibbs’ legs just as he turns to try to break into the middle of the field.
Van Ginkel said he was told by an official that the play was not flagged because Raymond’s hit was made while Raymond ran downfield on a route. A blindsided hit, as Van Ginkel contends it was, is not allowed per NFL rules.