By CJ Carlson
Jaire Alexander is arguably one of the Green Bay Packers best players on the roster. When he’s out there, their defense is much better. He’s one of the pieces that they would love to have in a must-win game against the Minnesota Vikings this week. However, he won’t be out there due to his own actions, as the team suspended him for one game over a coin toss incident.
You don’t often get to hear things like this. See, it all started when Alexander wasn’t named a captain ahead of the game. This alone means that he isn’t supposed to head out into the coin toss before the game at all. Instead, he just trotted himself out there anyways. Not only did he get out there for the coin toss, but he actively called and won that toss.
To make matters worse, he told the referee that he wanted the defense on the field. He was then corrected to say that he wanted to defer. The miscommunication could have allowed the Carolina Panthers to receive the ball first and get it first after the half. Had that happened, it would have been one of the wildest stories that the NFL has seen in some time, not that it still isn’t.
Jaire Alexander Wasn’t Very Concerned
Reporters obviously questioned Alexander after the game, wondering why he was even out there in the first place. Surprisingly, Alexander told reporters that he was out there because he was playing in his hometown, and just wanted to show out for them. On top of that, he said that the other players out there had his back in doing so, which I guess justified his reasoning for heading out there without permission.
The Packers have a 26 percent chance to make the playoffs, and a win over the Vikings would increase those chances to a 56 percent chance. If they were to lose this weekend to Minnesota, that chance drops all the way down to one percent, basically eliminating them from contention. Head coach Matt LaFleur said that his star cornerbacks’ antics were a “big mistake”.
He later clarified that he informed the referees before the game that he wanted to defer if they won the toss. If he hadn’t previously spoken to them, the officials could have mistaken what Jaire said when he meant that he wanted the defense on the field. Hence why the Panthers could have received it twice.
If the Packers lose to Minnesota this weekend, you can bet that we’ll hear about the decision to suspend Alexander after the fact. As well as the decision for him to run out there and join the coin toss without being allowed to.