Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney didn't hold back from criticizing the officiating after a series of controversial calls went against his club in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Detroit Lions.
"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, per ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "I don't think it's great officiating, if I'm being completely honest. I think it's bull---- a lot of the times."
He added, "It's annoying even talking about it because these are critical drives throughout the game, and we might have a drive where we're getting stops, but you're calling penalties and it's like, this is not a penalty. To me, it just don't really make any sense, and it's killing our momentum, it's killing our drives, and it's kind of f-----g up the games, if I'm being honest."
The Packers were flagged for roughing the passer twice and earned an additional unnecessary roughness call on a play they thought was still live because the whistle wasn't blown.
Tom Brady, who was working the game as color commentator, expressed his disagreement with several of the calls on the broadcast.
Tom Brady has had enough with the officiating. "My goodness. What is that?" "There's no way!" "It's definitely not roughing the passer." https://t.co/a0JlJUylJM
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) October 25, 2026
McKinney said he doesn't care if he gets fined for his comments.
"I would rather get fined and try to help my team out because I see what's going on, and it's killing us," he said. "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."
The loss dropped the Packers to 4-3, while the Lions improved to 4-2. Both clubs are fighting to contend in an NFC North division that's led by the 6-0 Minnesota Vikings.
