Packers CB Jaire Alexander nearly makes ‘big mistake’ after crashing coin toss vs. Panthers

Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander made his return to the field Sunday by crashing the pregame toss and nearly doing the one thing you should never do at a pregame coin toss.

After missing six games due to a shoulder injury, the Pro Bowler played his first game since Week 9 against the Carolina Panthers, his hometown team as a Charlotte native.

The Packers had their regular captains — Aaron Jones, Quay Walker and Eric Wilson — out for the coin toss, but Alexander took the unusual step of walking out with them and making the two decisions required of the group. The first went well, with Alexander calling tails and getting tails.

The second, well, let’s do a quick review of how an NFL coin toss works.

How an uninvited Jaire Alexander nearly screwed up the Packers’ coin toss

When a team wins, it’s usually seen as them choosing to kick or return to open the game, with the understanding that the second half will open the opposite way. Then the other team chooses what side of the field they will take.

It’s actually a bit more complicated than that. Instead of kicking or returning, teams are actually deciding when they want the choice to kick or return to open a half. When one team says “We’ll receive,” that’s fine, they’re just saying they are making the choice now and would like to receive the ball.

But you must never, ever say “We’ll kick.” Because an official may take that as deciding you are making the choice to open the game with a kick and then the other team will make its choice at the start of the second half, at which point they will obviously choose to receive, resulting in your team kicking off to start both halves. That’s why players always say “defer,” because they are deferring their team’s choice to the second half.

Yeah, so Alexander didn’t seem to know that. Asked by the official what the Packers wanted to do, he said “I want our defense on the field” when he was supposed to say “We’ll defer.”

Fortunately, the officials were feeling more merciful…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/packers-cb-jaire-alexander-nearly-makes-big-mistake-after-crashing-coin-toss-vs-panthers-013834482.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2023-12-25 01:38:34

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