CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jaire Alexander wasn't even supposed to be on the field for the coin toss when the Green Bay Packers cornerback crashed the captains meeting at midfield, almost costing his team a possession in Sunday's 33-30 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Alexander, who joined the Packers' three game captains Aaron Jones, Quay Walker and Eric Wilson at midfield, called tails and won the toss.
When referee Alex Kemp asked for his choice, Alexander said the Packers wanted to be on defense, which technically speaking is not the same as choosing to defer. Had Kemp not clarified, it could have cost the Packers a possession, and the Panthers would have received to start both halves.
By rule, the winner of the coin toss can choose to receive, kick off or defer the choice to the second half. With Alexander saying they wanted to be on defense, it could have been interpreted as choosing to kickoff.
It's possible the only reason Kemp double-checked and asked Alexander if he meant defer was that coach Matt LaFleur makes it a point in the pregame meeting with officials to inform them of their choice should they win the toss.
LaFleur did not sound pleased with Alexander, who was playing for the first time after missing six games with a shoulder injury.
«That was a big mistake,» LaFleur said of Alexander's call. «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.»
LaFleur added that he believes Kemp clarified because, «I don't think they ever
Read more on espn.com
espn.com
