Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have had a number of unexpected distractions as of late. The Joe Barry experience has caused fans to call for his firing on nearly every single social media outlet. De’Vondre Campbell made an announcement that he would no longer be playing through injury. Now Jaire Alexander’s suspension has thrown another wrinkle in the recent distractions.
Today, Jordan Love made was asked about everything that has been going on at 1256 Lombardi Avenue.
Ahead of Sunday’s road game against the Carolina Panthers, Alexander joined weekly captains Aaron Jones, Quay Walker, and Eric Wilson at midfield for the coin toss. He called tails, earning the Packers the right to choose to defer, kick, or receive the ball to begin the game.
Alexander says he told referee Alex Kemp, “I want our defense to be out there,” not establishing whether he meant the team wanted to outright kick or defer. Without clarification which, luckily for Green Bay, Kemp asked for, the Panthers would have been able to receive the kickoff to begin both halves.
While the coin toss incident is grabbing the headlines, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur alluded to other factors playing into the team’s decision during his own Wednesday press conference, telling reporters that suspensions are “never for one thing.”
Green Bay’s defense has been holding LaFleur’s team back all season long. Through 16 weeks, defensive coordinator Joe Barry’s unit ranks in the bottom ten of nearly every analytical category except EPA/rush (expected points added per rush), where they rank 11th-worst.