Sunday afternoon’s Week 7 showdown between C.J. Stroud’s Houston Texans and Jordan Love’s Green Bay Packers lived up to the hype with some explosive plays. Green Bay escaped with a game-winning, 45-yard field goal as time expired.
There was also explosive drama pregame with Texans Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs renewing his rivalry with Packers Pro Bowl cornerback Jaire Alexander. The two went head-to-head twice a year the first two seasons of Alexander’s NFL career when Diggs was still on the Minnesota Vikings (2018-2019), but they didn’t see each other as much since Diggs was traded to the AFC and the Buffalo Bills. That didn’t prevent the two big personalities from colliding pregame on Sunday.
After the game, Diggs explained why a kerfuffle occurred during warmups: he’s not the world’s most mature person.
“I don’t give a f— if I’m by myself or with a million,” Diggs said, via ESPN. “I’m never the bigger person. I ain’t letting s— go,” Diggs said postgame. “They picked it up or whatever. But I ain’t with the football tough guy s—.
Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans wasn’t a fan of the interaction when discussing their scuffle postgame.
“Things like that happen. Those guys have a history. They’ve been going at it before. We don’t want to encourage that,” Ryans said. “We just want to go play ball the right way and make sure it’s settled on the field.”
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Alexander opted not to make himself available to the media in the locker room postgame, per The Athletic, but new Green Bay safety Xavier McKinney had Alexander’s back. Despite 2024 being McKinney’s first year with the Packers and him not being around for Alexander’s previous disputes with Diggs, he had his teammate’s back.
“I’m with 2-3 every time,” Packers safety Xavier McKinney said, via The Athletic. “I’m with my guys and we gon’ ride together and that’s just what it is. So if he don’t like him, then I don’t like him. That’s what it is.”
