Packers' Xavier McKinney says NFL fined him 'a lot' for criticizing refs after loss to Lions

Xavier McKinney said he was fined "a lot" of money by the NFL for ripping officials during his postgame comments following last Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions .

The Green Bay Packers safety, speaking after Thursday's 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers , would not divulge the exact amount, but the minimum fine for criticizing officiating is $25,000, as Puka Nacua found out last season . McKinney told reporters the total was at least that amount.

During the Lions game, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur got into numerous animated discussions with officials and said afterward there were "some tough calls." Those calls were a pair of roughing the passer penalties and an unnecessary roughness call.

LaFleur wasn't willing to pin the game on what he believed were bad calls. McKinney, on the other hand, didn't hold back, saying calls are "kind of f***ing up" games.

Understanding that his comments might draw a punishment from the NFL, McKinney didn't shy away from his criticism.

"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 on Sunday. "I don't think it's great officiating, if I'm being completely honest. I think it's bulls*** a lot of the times." … "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."

"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 on Sunday. "I don't think it's great officiating, if I'm being completely honest. I think it's bulls*** a lot of the times."

"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 was fine with the league taking money out of his pocket because he felt his comments could help his team in the future.

The NFL reacted in another way to the officiating in that Packers-Lions game. According to Football Zebras , the officiating crew, led by Alex Moore, has been moved off of Sunday night's Philadelphia Eagles-Washington Commanders game and will now work the New England Patriots-Miami Dolphins matchup.

The switch is reportedly about "optics" and not any sort of disciplinary measure for the Packers-Lions crew.