The Green Bay Packers bested the Houston Texans in one of the most exciting games of the regular season to date at Lambeau Field in Week 7, but the fireworks began long before opening kickoff.
Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs, familiar with playing the Packers in Green Bay as a former member of the Minnesota Vikings, was involved in a pregame scuffle with cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Diggs and Alexander got in one another’s faces near the Packers sideline ahead of the game. Shortly thereafter, multiple Green Bay players joined the fray and the verbal argument became a physical one.
“I don’t give a f*** if I’m by myself or with a million. I’m never the bigger person. I ain’t letting s*** go,” Diggs said during his postgame press conference, per DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN. “They picked it up or whatever. But I ain’t with the football tough guy s***.”
Packers Players Spoke Out on Texans WR Stefon Diggs After Win
GettyGreen Bay Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary.
Diggs wasn’t the only player reporters asked about the pregame scuffle, and he wasn’t the only one who provided answers on it following Green Bay’s two-point win in the final seconds of the contest.
“All of that chirping before the game — we don’t like that fake tough stuff because we’ve got 60 minutes to play ball, and that’s what we did today,” said Packers edge rusher Rashan Gary, somewhat ironically echoing Diggs’ comments.
Safety Xavier McKinney, Alexander’s running mate in the secondary and one of the newest additions to Green Bay’s defense, said he was simply getting his teammate’s back.
“I’m with my guys, and we going to ride together and that’s just what it is,” McKinney said. “So if he don’t like him, then I don’t like him.”
Packers Get Last Laugh Over Texans After Game-Winning Drive
GettyCornerback Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers.
In the end, it was Alexander, McKinney, Gary and the rest of the Green Bay defense that got the last laugh.
Diggs led the Texans with 5 receptions, which was half of the entire team total, but gained just 23 yards on the afternoon. The Packers kept him, not to mention every other Houston pass catcher, out of the end zone for the entire game.
The Texans gained just 86 yards through the air, and that was before subtracting the 31 yards Green Bay pushed the Houston offense back via 4 sacks on the day.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud completed just 10-of-21 passes and posted a QBR of 22.0 against the Packers’ suffocating pass defense.
Kicker Brandon McManus booted a 45-yard field goal as time expired to give Green Bay the victory, moving the team to 5-2 on the season.
The Packers will travel to Florida next weekend to take on the two-win Jacksonville Jaguars before a two-game slate against NFC North opponents the Detroit Lions (November 3) at home and the Chicago Bears (November 17) at Soldier Field.
Green Bay has its bye during Week 9 this season between its upcoming contests against the Lions and Bears.