The Green Bay Packers were not happy with the officiating calls made during their Week 7 clash with the Detroit Lions. More than one controversial ruling tilted the game in the Lions’ favor, and Packers safety Xavier McKinney was having none of it. However, as expected, his decision to openly criticize league referees came at a steep cost.

According to ESPN reporter Rob Demovsky’s October 29 X post, McKinney has been hit with a hefty fine by the league for his comments.

“Packers safety Xavier McKinney said he did get fined for his postgame comments after Sunday’s loss to the Lions,” Demovsky wrote. “The minimum fine for criticizing officials is $25,000. He wouldn’t say exactly how much but laughed and said it wasn’t less than that. But he also said it was worth it to support his team.”

“I make enough money so I’ll be OK,” McKinney said, per Demovsky. 

McKinney did not mince his words when he expressed his frustration through his post-game comments.

“I don’t know how the NFL’s going to treat it, but I’m not a big fan of the refs right now,” McKinney said. “I don’t think it’s great officiating, if I’m being completely honest. I think it’s b******* a lot of the times.” 

McKinney wasn’t the only one complaining. Packers edge rusher Micah Parsons also took to social media to vent. He claimed that the officials were making ‘Roughing the Passer’ calls every time a defensive player so much as touched the quarterback, suggesting that they might as well be playing flag football.

The first one happened in the third quarter, with a little over four minutes left. The Lions were on a third-and-10, and Goff threw an incompletion. Packers defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. broke through the offensive line, but Lions center Cade Mays had gripped his lower body. Cox lost his balance, and in the process, seemingly knocked Detroit QB Jared Goff over.

The second was against Karl Brooks in the fourth quarter. Up in the broadcast booth, even Tom Brady was unhappy with the call.

“There’s no way!” he exclaimed. “… That is definitely not roughing the passer.” He’d also noted in the commentary that the flags had “killed” Green Bay’s game that night.

The penalty on Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt also received flak. Amon-Ra St. Brown went down after a play, but he got up and began moving again, presuming that the drive had not ended. This led to Wyatt tackling him again, which caused St. Brown’s leg to come into contact with umpire Terry Killens Jr., who immediately threw the flag on Wyatt. However, none of the players involved heard a whistle ending the play.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, however, was more careful in his approach to addressing the penalties.

Matt LaFleur offers measured take on penalties

“I don’t think officiating in this league is very easy. I really don’t,” LaFleur said. “I think things happen quickly, and there’s some bang-bang decisions they have to make. So I don’t think they have an easy job. All you want as a coach is consistency.”

But a replay of the game will reveal how frustrated LaFleur was when the controversial penalties were called. He was throwing his arms and was visibly disappointed that the flags were called. LaFleur was asked for his take on the officiating right after the game, and he only just managed to control that frustration from showing.

“I don’t even want to comment on any of the penalties,” he said. “It is what it is, you gotta play above it. I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is.”

He’d addressed the penalty on Wyatt, though. LaFleur noted that he didn’t get much explanation from the officiating crew, and that the whistle had not been blown.

“They were trying to tell me that the play was obviously dead. I’m like, how do you know if you don’t hear a whistle?”

Regardless, the Packers were able to move on from that disappointing night against the Carolina Panthers, whom they defeated 27-19.