All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander will miss yet another game this season after the Green Bay Packers announced on Wednesday they have suspended Alexander for actions that were "detrimental to the team."
The incident occurred before Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers, as Alexander made himself a game captain and came out for the coin toss, even though he was not a designated captain for the game.
The Packers won the coin toss. In all NFL games, when you win a coin toss, you can choose to either kick off, receive the ball, or defer the ball to the second half.
Alexander called for defence, which technically would have lost the Packers a possession as if they would have kicked off, the Panthers would have received the ball at the beginning of both halves.
Referee Alex Kemp had to clarify what Alexander meant, before a decision was made to defer the ball to the second half.
Coach Matt LaFleur was less than thrilled with Alexander's actions on Sunday.
"That was a big mistake," LaFleur said after the Packers win against the Panthers. "That's something that you review with the guys before they go out there every time about, 'Hey, we win the toss, we're going to defer.' I went to the officials before the game, made sure they knew what we were going to do. We had an incident earlier this year where we had a similar situation, so always trying to be proactive in that approach."
General Manager Brian Gutekunst released a statement as apart of the release from the team Wednesday afternoon.
"The decision to suspend a player is never easy and not one we take lightly," said Gutekunst. "Unfortunately, Jaire's actions prior to the game in Carolina led us to take this step. As an organization, we have an expectation that everyone puts the team first.
"While we are disappointed, we had a good conversation with Jaire this morning and fully expect him to learn from this as we move forward together. We look forward to welcoming him back next week as he is a valued member of this team and will continue to be in the future."
Alexander spoke on the incident post-game, stating that his teammates “backed him up,” as he said him being out for the coin toss was “only suiting," given that he was from Carolina.
"I said 'I want our defence to be out there.' and they all looked at me like I was crazy," said Alexander "I mean it's pretty simple what I said, like I want the defence to be out there. They were like 'You mean deferred?' and I'm like 'Yeah, I guess.'
"It's pretty obvious what I'm asking for."
Alexander's suspension does not help a Packers team hoping to make a push for the playoffs at 7-8, with their final two games of the regular season being against divisional rivals also chasing the post-season.
Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings will be the tenth game Alexander has missed this season.
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