The Green Bay Packers suffered a controversial 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions last weekend, leaving players frustrated with the officiating. Among them, Packers safety Xavier McKinney didn't hold back with his postgame thoughts about the referees and has since been fined for speaking out. According to ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, the NFL fined McKinney $25,000 for remarks he made about the officiating after the loss.
McKinney previously noted he didn't care if he received a fine for speaking out about the officiating in his team's loss. "I would rather get fined and try to help my team out because I see what's going on, and it's killing us," McKinney said in some of his postgame comments, per ESPN. More news: Bears DT Jeffery Simmons Addresses Backlash Over Caleb Williams Trash Talk The Packers had eight penalties for 81 yards in the loss to Detroit, while the home team had five calls for 50 yards.
Among the controversial decisions were multiple roughing-the-passer penalties against the Packers, including one late in the fourth quarter. Packers defensive tackle Karl Brooks was called for the penalty for a hit on Lions quarterback Jared Goff during what became the Lions' game-winning drive. "I'm not a big fan of the refs right now. ...
I think it's [expletive] a lot of the times," McKinney said in his postgame comments, adding, "I think there are drives, you know, where they make calls that don't even make any sense." "It just be [expletive] that's going on. [Expletive] calls," he told reporters. "We're not seeing the same calls for our quarterback. We're not seeing the same calls for our offensive guys," McKinney also said.
"I don't even want to comment on any of the penalties. I just -- it is what it is. You got to play above it, and I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after the loss.
The controversy also appeared to draw attention from the league. Following the game, Pro Football Network reported that the NFL reassigned that game's officiating crew, led by Alex Moore, from the primetime Eagles-Commanders game to the earlier Patriots-Dolphins game. The Packers seemingly moved on and bounced back from that disappointing loss with a 27-19 win at home over the Carolina Panthers this past Thursday.
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