Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said he takes his players committing personal foul penalties “very personally.”
In the Packers’ 20-16 loss to the Lions on Sunday night during a win-and-in Week 18 game, they committed two egregious ones that proved costly. The Packers finished this season with eight unnecessary roughness penalties, according to nflpenalties.com, the fourth-most in the NFL.
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“I think that’s always a reflection of myself and the standards that we set for these players,” LaFleur said after the game. “And we’ve got to be better and we’ve got to learn from that because that is unacceptable.”
The first one came with two seconds remaining in the first half and the Packers leading, 9-3. Lions kicker Michael Badgley lined up for a 48-yard field goal, kicking in the same direction he had already missed a 46-yarder earlier in the quarter. The Packers called timeout to ice Badgley, and cornerback Rasul Douglas casually walked toward the ball and disrupted it so Detroit couldn’t get a free practice kick.
Lions offensive lineman Dan Skipper then shoved Douglas, who turned around and struck Skipper in the face. Douglas was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, shortening the field goal attempt to 33 yards. Badgley made it, cutting the Packers’ lead to three at halftime instead of six.
“I smacked the ball out of the snapper’s hand and (Skipper) just pushed me,” Douglas said. “So I turned around and pushed him back and they called a flag on me. I’m not doing no free kicks. You missed one earlier. We called timeout. The play is already over. I’m not about to let you snap the ball so the kicker can kick a free kick. … I feel like that was a good thing for me to do, but the result at the end is a bad thing, and I pushed him back.”
While it’s clear from video that Douglas didn’t simply push Skipper, he used the word “hitting” in a tweet Monday afternoon to more accurately describe what he did.
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The Packers’ second unnecessary roughness penalty was one of the more inexplicable things you’ll see from any player, let alone a Packer.
With 7:24 remaining in the game and Green Bay leading, 16-13, the Lions faced a second-and-8 from the Packers’ 9-yard line. Running back DeAndre Swift remained on the ground after taking a blow to the head while being tackled and Packers rookie inside linebacker Quay Walker leaned in to check on his former Georgia teammate. Lions team physician Dr. T. Sean Lynch tried moving Walker out of the way so he could get to Swift, and Walker responded by shoving Lynch in the back and into another Lions trainer kneeling on the ground while attending to Swift.
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Walker was not only flagged, handing the Lions a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line, he was ejected. The Lions scored a touchdown three plays later to take a lead they never relinquished.
“I don’t think either one of those two plays changed the game,” Douglas said of the mishaps by him and Walker.
Walker’s disqualification was his second of the season. His first came against the Bills in Week 8 when he shoved a practice-squad player on the sideline. After that game, he emotionally addressed reporters in Orchard Park, N.Y., saying, “Sometimes my emotions can lead me to do things that after I do ’em, I kinda regret that I did it.”
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Walker is the only player in the last 22 seasons to be ejected twice in a season.
Walker wasn’t in the locker room for the 45 minutes it was open to reporters Sunday night, but he spoke on Monday during the players’ locker cleanout day.
“Another rookie mistake,” Walker said. “Selfish. Just a selfish act of me. Just very stupid and dumb. I’ll say immature of me. Once again, made the same mistake twice. I just always seem to overreact at times, and I did it again last night.
“Just got to work on controlling my emotions. It’s just a fault that I have. I’m human just like everybody else. I make mistakes. This just happens to be one that I made twice, but just got to learn from them. I’m just like everybody else. I just so happen to put a helmet on and play football. … I just pray God shows mercy and has mercy for the ones that have negative things to say about me, but I’m just like everybody else. It’s just a fault that I have and I have to be here every day and try to get better at.”
Here’s Quay Walker addressing last night’s ejection the day after: pic.twitter.com/HAickf8xF0
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) January 9, 2023
Walker said he spoke to Lynch on Monday morning “for a long time.” He said he continued apologizing and prays for forgiveness from him. Walker added that he told Lynch to pass his message along to the team and other trainers on his behalf to tell them that he is sorry. Walker, asked if he had met yet with LaFleur and the front office, said he also apologized to them.
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“Because that reflects on them,” Walker said. “It always comes back to the head coach.”
Not only did Walker shove Lynch, but defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt appeared to intentionally bump into him, too. Wyatt, Walker’s college teammate at Georgia and fellow rookie first-round pick, was not flagged for his offense. After Walker shoved Lynch, Wyatt took four steps before leaning his left shoulder into Lynch’s back.
Walker and Wyatt will likely be fined, even though Wyatt wasn’t penalized, and possibly even suspended for a game to begin next season.
“That is unacceptable,” LaFleur said when asked specifically about the infractions by Douglas and Walker. “I’ve got a much higher standard for our players than to do silly things like that. I mean, we’ve had a guy get ejected twice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career and we’ve got to be much more mentally tough.”
While Douglas, Walker and Wyatt deserve blame for their clumsy actions in a pivotal game, so too does the Packers’ head coach. He said so himself.
Their penalties speak to a concerning lack of discipline, which signals a certain lack of control LaFleur has over his team. It’s not just that Douglas, Walker and Wyatt did what they did, though their on-field actions would be inexcusable even in a preseason game. It’s when they did what they did, too, that makes those incidents even more alarming.
Getting control of those players who lost their temper with the Packers’ season on the line is just another box on LaFleur’s offseason checklist en route to reviving the franchise. Whether he can do it will be telling about his mettle as a head coach, which has already been tested plenty in his first four seasons.
(Photo of Quay Walker and Matt LaFleur: Morry Gash / Associated Press)
