Detroit Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson went through a scary moment on Sunday. While trying to hurdle Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu, the rookie ended up with his head hitting the turf and unsuccessfully performing the leap.

Hockenson stayed down on the field after sustaining the injury. Eventually, the training staff carted him off of the gridiron as he was promptly ruled out with a concussion. “That was not a good situation to walk out into,” as Lions coach Matt Patricia said.

Though suffering a concussion, Lions head coach Matt Patricia mentioned post-game that he got a smile out of Hockenson after he sat up.

“I did get him to smile when he finally sat up so that was a good ending and made me feel a little better,” said Patricia, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. 

Hockenson dealt with the injury positively while also being supported by his family.

“He was in great spirits,” Patricia said, via the Detroit Free Press. “His mom and dad are here. It was good. We’ll just see how it goes.”

As for hurdling over safeties, Patricia talks about his feelings for doing so.

“We got to be real careful when you do leap and you do go up in the air,” Patricia said. “There is an added risk that’s involved in the play, and a lot of time I think those guys, sometimes they take real calculated risks on those situations, sometimes it’s something that we’ve seen on tape maybe previously, or an opportunity that we think maybe a guy goes low. But that particular situation, we’re just trying to keep the players as safe as possible. I want to keep them safe.”

Luckily for Hockenson, the Lions will enjoy a bye in Week 5. That will allow the team to prep their tight ends to learn that hurdling may not also be the safest option, and give Hockenson an attempt to clear the concussion protocol without missing any playing time.