GREEN BAY, Wis. — Cordarelle Patterson figured he might have hit Tramon Williams too early while covering a first-quarter punt. That’s what officials told him after throwing a flag for kick-catch interference that had a lasting impact in Sunday’s 21-13 Packers win. Williams fumbled when Patterson hit him, and the Bears recovered the ball. Instead, the Packers moved up to the Bears’ 35 and scored a touchdown four plays later.
At halftime, Patterson checked his phone and saw video replay that he said showed his hit was on time.
“My girl, and everybody, sent it to me,” he said. “I thought I made a bad play. I asked the ref — ‘I thought you got there too early’ — but [then] I watched it.”
Patterson said teams should be able to challenge such calls.
“I can’t control anything like that,” he said. “So what they call, it stands.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy said the play was close.
“[It’s] kind of uncommon for that many plays to be a game of inches,” he said.
On the last play of the third quarter, Patterson thought he had both feet in bounds for a third-down completion that would have been a first down at the 2. He was ruled out of bounds, though, and the Bears had to kick a field goal.
“I don’t know what I did to the refs this week,” he said with a smile. “Somebody told me I need to start bringing them donuts and stuff before the game. Next week I’m going to have to bring some hot chocolate and all that stuff. “
