Joe Mixon had to exit the Houston Texans' Sunday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears due to an ankle injury. While Mixon did re-enter the game later on, he wasn't shy about taking to social media on why he was out of the game in the first place.
Mixon was unhappy that T.J. Edwards was not flagged for executing what he believed to be a hip-drop tackle on him during the game. The NFL banned hip-drop tackles in the offseason, believing that doing so would help decrease the number of injuries.
Mixon's message to the NFL and NFLPA was to "put money where mouth is". Clearly, this means that Mixon feels Edwards should have been punished during the game for the tackle because the hip-drop tackle is now illegal.
The NFL and NFLPA made it a rule and an emphasis for a reason. Time to put your money where your mouth is.
— ⚡️Primetime!!!⚡️ (@Joe_MainMixon) September 16, 2024
According to Lukas Weese and Mike Jones of The Athletic, "The league defined a swivel hip-drop tackle as containing three parts: a tackler grabs a runner with both hands/arms while attempting to make a tackle, “unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body,” and then lands on and traps the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee."
Had the officials called out the illegal play, the Texans would have received a fresh set of downs and gained 15 yards off the penalty. Weese and Jones noted in their article that the refs aren't supposed to call out hip-drop tackle penalties unless it's obvious but that plays like these will be reviewed later with the players involved being subjected to fines.
Joe Mixon was not happy with NFL officiating in Week 2 win
While the Texans went on to win the game 19 to 13, Mixon missed a chunk of the game due to the injury to his ankle. While he returned later in the game, the NFL might look into his claims of this being a case of Edwards using the banned move.
Fortunately, it appears that Mixon avoided a long-term injury and should be healthy enough to continue running the ball for the Texans.