The Vikings coach yelled to tight end T.J. Hockenson to “go down” during the second quarter with Minnesota in the red zone in their eventual 22-17 win over the 49ers.
Hockenson proceeded to sit on the turf, which stopped the clock and prevented the Vikings from burning a timeout.
It also stirred controversy over whether O’Connell used the injury to avoid using said timeout.
“It was more so about if he’s coming out – kind of similar maybe what you guys saw when we took a delay late in a previous game this year. When a guy either comes on or comes off late, we’re pretty meticulous about what personnel is on the field, what we’re gonna call with those guys in the game,” O’Connell said. “It just allows us all a chance (to) reset, and he was injured.
“I credit all of our guys’ toughness but sometimes depending on the time of the game of the situation of the game where the clock is really not an issue, he was able to come back in the game from that which was really impressive.”
The play in question happened right after Kirk Cousins’ dump-off to Cam Akers gave the Vikings a first-and-goal at the 49ers’ 2-yard line with less than nine minutes to go in the half.
Hockenson, who was banged up during the game and had to leave the field after a later play, went down on the play, which stopped the clock.
