The Green Bay Packers were merely playing out the string in a Week 18 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, but apparently no one told quarterback JJ McCarthy.
Early in the first quarter, McCarthy broke away from pressure in the pocket, stiff-armed Packers linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper to the ground and lowered his shoulder into cornerback Keisean Nixon, knocking him back to finish the run.
After turning what should have been a multi-yard loss into a moderate gain, McCarthy barked aggressively in Nixon’s face and drew a 15-yard penalty from the officials. On Saturday, January 10, the NFL Office of Gameday Accountability weighed in with a punishment of its own for McCarthy.
The league fined the Vikings QB a total of $11,593 for unsportsmanlike conduct via an act of taunting.
Packers Enter Playoffs in Chicago Rested, Relatively Healthy After Sitting Key Players Against Vikings
GettyGreen Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
Green Bay incurred no punishments from the league for any on-field actions in the 16-3 loss in Minneapolis last weekend. In fact, most of the Packers’ top players did not participate in the game because it had no bearing on whether the team would make the playoffs or what its seed would be.
With a record of 9-7-1, Green Bay earned the No. 7 seed in the NFC for the second consecutive postseason and will travel to Soldier Field for a Wild Card Round playoff game against the Chicago Bears on Saturday night.
The Bears (11-6) are the NFC North Division champions and the No. 2 seed in the conference. Despite that, the Packers were 2.5-point favorites just hours before kickoff, per DraftKings Sportsbook.
Green Bay and Chicago split the regular-season series, with each team winning the game it hosted. Both contests took place in December.
However, the Packers could have easily swept the Bears. They surrendered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter to Chicago in Week 16, which Green Bay ultimately lost in overtime by six points.
Packers QB Jordan Love Last Played in Loss to Bears
GettyQuarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers.
Quarterback Jordan Love suffered a concussion late in the first half of Green Bay’s last matchup with the Bears. The play on which he sustained the injury is the last snap Love took during the regular season.
He sat out the following week against the Baltimore Ravens due to stipulations in the league’s mandatory concussion protocol before Green Bay’s coaching staff chose to hold him out against the Vikings in the interests of rest and health.
The Packers’ final injury report on Friday included multiple players with “questionable” designations: DT Warren Brinson (foot), safety Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral), OT Zach Tom (back/knee), WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) and QB Malik Willis (right shoulder/hamstring).
Green Bay has since ruled Wicks out. The league does not require the Packers to release the rest of its inactive list until roughly 90 minutes before kickoff.
The team’s biggest concern has to be Tom, who is the second-best right tackle in the NFL this season based on his overall player grade from Pro Football Focus. He has missed the last three games of the year with back and knee issues, sitting out five of 17 contests total during the regular season.
Willis is also a crucial player for Green Bay to have healthy on Saturday in case anything happens to Love. If Love gets hurt at any point during the game and Willis can’t go, the Packers will be forced to turn to third-string quarterback Clayton Tune.
NFL Punishes Vikings QB JJ McCarthy for Actions Against Packers