Packer Central

Packers Star Xavier McKinney Rips Bears’ D.J. Moore, Fans Rivalry Flames

Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney remembers what Chicago Bears receiver D.J. Moore said in May and what he did against the Cardinals earlier this month.

Bill Huber

Chicago Bears receiver DJ Moore (2) signals for a first down after making a reception against the Green Bay Packers lat year.
Chicago Bears receiver DJ Moore (2) signals for a first down after making a reception against the Green Bay Packers lat year. / Tork Mason-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – On May 7, Chicago Bears receiver D.J. Moore was asked about the Green Bay Packers signing safety Xavier McKinney and the Detroit Lions drafting a couple cornerbacks.

“That’s nice,” Moore told Kay Adams.

McKinney has seen the exchange.

“All that stuff, that’s in my memory bank and I work accordingly to that,” McKinney said after Wednesday’s practice.

McKinney, who is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions, is a major reason why the Packers are 6-3.

Moore, who is having one of the quieter years of a superb career, probably knows who No. 29 is entering Sunday’s rivalry game at Soldier Field.

“I hope so. But I don’t give a damn about what he knows,” McKinney said.

McKinney went on to talk about not what he knows but what he’s seen. Two weeks ago in Chicago’s loss at the Arizona Cardinals, Moore walked off the field in the middle of the play while his quarterback, Caleb Williams, was running for his life trying to make a play.

“This dude walked out on” his quarterback, McKinney said of Moore, pointing out he is a Bears captain. “I’ve been playing football for five years now and I’ve been watching football for longer than that, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen [anything like it].

“You’re supposed to be the guy and you’re just walking off the field. You’re walking off the field on a rookie quarterback that you’ve been praising. So, it’s like, that’s a whole other story.”

According to Moore, he walked to the bench because he injured his ankle.

“Cap,” McKinney said. “That’s what I say. Cap.”

The Bears were a trendy Super Bowl pick after selecting Williams and receiver Rome Odunze in the first round of this year’s draft and adding veteran receiver Keenan Allen in free agency.

Moore probably didn’t expect the Bears to be 4-5 and losers of three consecutive games entering Sunday’s game against McKinney and the Packers.

“You know how people get before the season,” McKinney said. “They don’t really know what’s going to happen during the season and you just start talking too much and you don’t really know what you’re talking about. You’re just talking.”

Having spent his first four NFL seasons with the Giants, this will be McKinney’s first taste of the century-old Packers-Bears rivalry. McKinney knows all about rivalries. He played at Alabama; the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn is one of the most famous and spirited rivalries in sports.

Is Packers-Bears – or any NFL rivalry – real or overhyped?

“This one I think is real,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything fake about this. Honestly, in the league, I don’t think there’s anything fake about rivalries, honestly. I think rivalries are extremely real and I think this is one of the realest ones that we’ve got in this league.”

With Moore providing some bulletin-board material and McKinney eager to discuss it on Wednesday, there will be an extra layer of anticipation for an ancient feud in which the Packers have won 10 consecutive games.

“Playing in the league, every Sunday, Monday, Thursday, I’m watching the games,” McKinney said. “I’ve got Sunday Ticket, so I sit in my room, I’ve got a TV, my monitor, and I watch every game. I’m paying attention to formations, little things, how people are playing when they’re up, how people are playing when they’re down, what players are doing.

“Play’s still going on and you walk off the field on your offense. You know, you take note of that. Everybody takes note of that and we see it and we’re going to work it accordingly.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.