Packers rip refs after roughing penalties prove costly in loss

• Rob DemovskyOct 25, 2026, 10:46 PM ET

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  Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA.

DETROIT -- Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur treaded lightly on the topic of officiating after his team's loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but several players in his locker room did not use the same discretion.

None was more outspoken than All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney.

"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 bulls--- a lot of the times."

He didn't stop there after the Packers were flagged for two more roughing the passer penalties to run their season total to eight over the first seven games, on top of an unnecessary roughness on a play Green Bay thought was still ongoing but referee Alex Moore did not -- even if there was no whistle to signify its end.

"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," McKinney said. "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---ing up the games, if I'm being honest."

McKinney said he did not care if his comments drew a fine from the NFL.

"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. "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."

LaFleur vehemently argued several calls during the game, but took a more cautious approach afterward.

"I don't even want to comment on any of the penalties," LaFleur said. "I just -- it is what it is. You gotta play above it, and I thought there were some tough calls, but it is what it is."

The one he argued the most came in the third quarter after Amon-Ra St. Brown caught a short pass from Lions quarterback Jared Goff. He appeared to go down after a 4-yard gain but then got up and started running again.

In response, Packers defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt tackled him again. At the same time, St. Brown cleated umpire Terry Killens Jr. and knocked him down. From his back, Killens threw a flag that turned out to be unnecessary roughness on Wyatt.

"There was no whistle blown and the guy continued to run and our guy didn't hear a whistle, he continued to play too, and then we get called for a penalty," LaFleur said. "So I don't know. They were trying to tell me the play was obviously dead. I'm like, 'How do you know if you don't hear a whistle?' So I don't know if you guys heard a whistle, I did not hear a whistle."

In a pool report, Moore did not say definitively whether a whistle was blown.

"We ruled that the play was over," Moore said. "I can't honestly hear if there was a whistle or not, but the tackler made the tackle, the play was over. Then, there was an additional action, and he basically tackled him again with force after the play was over."

Wyatt said he never heard a whistle, either.

"If you asked me right now, I'd do the same thing 100 times over," Wyatt said. "So that's the refs. They gotta figure out what they need to do because I definitely did my job."

Wyatt said he does not believe St. Brown gave himself up.

"What if he would've got up and ran for a touchdown?" Wyatt said. "Then everybody would be looking at D-Wy like 'you let him go.' I feel like I did the right thing. Flag or not, I feel like I did the right thing."

It gave the Lions a fresh set of downs at Green Bay's 11-yard line. Two plays later, Goff hit Jameson Williams for a 10-yard touchdown to take a 17-14 lead.

"That was a crazy call," Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon said. "It was a terrible call."

Defensive tackle Karl Brooks, whose roughing the passer penalty on the Lions' game-winning drive, declined to comment after the game.

Edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr., who was called for roughing Lions quarterback Jared Goff in the third quarter, wasn't sure what he did wrong.

"Maybe like stop in my tracks and like, I don't know," Cox said. "I'm trying to give you a good answer but it's disappointing that these are veteran guys -- I'm not trying to go after the refs -- well informed guys and I feel like you've got to know the difference between what's intentional and what's not."

Still, the Packers (4-3) had chances to win. They went just 1-for-3 in the red zone, and rookie kicker Trey Smack missed two short field goals -- a 26-yarder in the first quarter that was wide right and a 35-yarder that was partially blocked with 3:21 remaining. It would have given the Packers a 20-17 lead.

"I don't think the refs lost us the game," Packers tight end Tucker Kraft said. "I don't. We had the game, and we gave it away."