Packers head coach Matt LaFleur got heated with officials several times during Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Lions, but he didn't want to make them the focus of his postgame comments.
LaFleur said there were "some tough calls," but that his team needed to rise above them. Among those tough calls were two roughing the passer penalties and an unnecessary roughness call on defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt for a hit that came without a clear whistle to stop play as Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown got up to continue running.
While LaFleur didn't want to unload on the officials, safety Xavier McKinney was more willing to go there. He said it is not "great officiating" and that the calls are "kind of f—-ing up" the team's games. McKinney knows that could earn him a monetary penalty from the league, but he said he's fine with that because he feels he's telling the truth.
"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, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. "We all see it. We all see what's going on. Everyone sees what's going on, the fans see what's going on, we see what's going on when we're out there."
All of the calls can't explain everything about the loss — Packers rookie Trey Smack missed a 26-yard field goal and had a 35-yarder blocked at the end of drives that could have also been finished with touchdowns — but McKinney's comments make it clear that they played a role.