GREEN BAY — The good news for Xavier McKinney was that his coach was much angrier with the officiating crew than he was at McKinney.
Nevertheless, the Green Bay Packers first-team All-Pro safety was fortunate that his 15-yard penalty for taunting — no matter how much Packers head coach Matt LaFleur vehemently disagreed with referee Clete Blakeman’s crew on how the adjudicated it — wound up not costing his team dearly in a game the Packers wound up winning, 27-13, at Lambeau Field on Sunday.
“But I’m sure it might change when we’re watching the film,” McKinney said of LaFleur’s anger being directed at Blakeman’s crew. “It’s all right though.”
With the NFL having put an emphasis on reducing players’ trash-talking and taunting this season, McKinney’s second-quarter taunting penalty came after he’d pancaked wide receiver Kalif Raymond on a play and stood over Raymond in a very brief celebration.
Raymond got up and head-butted McKinney, smacking McKinney in the facemask with the crown of his helmet, but only McKinney was flagged, leaving LaFleur irate.
“Worst case scenario, they should’ve been offsetting,” LaFleur said. “But they saw it differently.”
At the same time, both LaFleur and McKinney eventually acknowledged that given the NFL’s focus on unsportsmanlike conduct, players have to be more cautious no matter how difficult it may be.
“We’ll definitely address that again. We can’t do that,” LaFleur said. ‘We’ve got to be better than that. Football is an emotional game, and I understand. I love these guys getting excited about playing. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on on the field, but you’ve got to keep your composure and your poise, especially when you’re playing a really good football team.”
Added McKinney: “Going forward, I’m going to toe the line. If I get a flag, I’ll learn from it, but I’m going to toe that line. Obviously, I’m a smart player so I understand when I can and can’t do it, but this type of game, I had to set the tone and that’s just what it was. And we’ll live with it.”
Tom, Banks injured | Before losing 40% of their starting group during the second half Sunday, the Packers offensive line was outstanding in pass protection, making sure quarterback Jordan Love had ample time in the pocket (zero sacks) and didn’t put his surgically-repaired left thumb in any danger.
“Man, they were just dominant up front today. They did a great job,” Love said. “I don’t think there were too many pressures early on, and they just did a great job of stopping their D-line.”
But then came Love’s third-quarter interception, which Brian Branch returned for a touchdown only to have it wiped out by a Lions holding penalty. During Branch’s return, Lions defensive end Aiden Hutchinson lit up Love, and Tom dove over his quarterback and landed awkwardly on his hip.
“Obviously I was getting smacked, so I don’t even know what happened,” Love said. “Zach, I think he said he tried jumping over me and avoiding me or something like that but I didn’t get to see what happened. I just got up and saw him down.”
Darian Kinnard initially took over for Tom, but later, rookie second-round pick Anthony Belton was at right tackle. Meanwhile, Banks injured his ankle at some point during the fourth quarter and was replaced by Jordan Morgan, who’d been sharing time with Sean Rhyan at right guard earlier in the game.
Asked if he was concerned about not having Tom or Banks for Thursday’s game against the Washington Commanders, LaFleur replied, “A short week is always tough. They’re in there getting treatment right now. Everybody’s in there doing some sort of recovery.”
Jacobs gets going in second half | At halftime, Josh Jacobs had just 8 yards on six carries. But the Lions defense clearly wore down in the second half, and Jacobs wound up with 66 yards (including a 3-yard touchdown) on 19 attempts.
“Obviously, we knew. They said it all week: ‘Stop 8,’” Jacobs said of the Lions’ defensive approach. “Their goal was to stop 8. They had eight, nine in the box all game. I told the receivers, ‘Take it personal.’ They were basically saying if they stopped me, then they win the game.”
Jacobs is one of the Packers’ seven season-long captains who had C patches on their jerseys on Sunday, along with Love, McKinney, Isaiah McDuffie, Quay Walker, Tucker Kraft and Rashan Gary.
“I know you guys saw the C’s on the jerseys, and that’s a reason why [Jacobs is a captain],” LaFleur said. “He told me even after the game, ‘Hey, I just want to win, period.’
“Credit to the Lions, we knew going into this game, they were going to load the box, play man coverage and try to take Josh Jacobs away, and so you have to combat that somehow some way, and we had to do that through the passing game.”
Spreading the wealth | Although Love completed only 16 passes on the day, they went to an eye-popping 10 different pass-catchers. Jayden Reed (three catches, 45 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown) and Romeo Doubs (two catches, 68 yards, including a 48-yard deep ball to set up Reed’s TD) led the way while Dontayvion Wicks, Tucker Kraft and Matthew Golden also had two catches apiece.
“I think it just goes to show you the depth we have at receiver, tight end and running back,” Love said. “We’ve got playmakers all around and guys who can come in here and catch the rock and make plays. I think that’s what you want as an offense, be able to spread the wealth around, and keep the defense on their heels on who we’re going to be targeting.”
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