The first blowup came late in the second quarter, when the Packers had a chance to take a double-digit lead. Leading 10-7 and facing a third-and-goal at the Jaguars 5-yard line, the Packers were in prime position. They had the benefit of a Jacksonville timeout with 1:28 remaining to set their play call. Yet somewhere between McCarthys mouth and tight end Jermichael Finleys ears, the call was lost on the rookie tight end. He didnt know where to line up and went from one side of the formation to the other. With the play out of sync even before the snap, Rodgers dumped the ball off to his other tight end, Donald Lee, who barely got back to the line of scrimmage.
We should be set and ready to go there, McCarthy said. Not being lined up initially factored into the (result of) the play. Thats why were kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns.
When the field-goal unit came on, Rodgers gave Finley an earful.
It wasnt just Jermichael, Rodgers said. There were multiple plays where we had either the wrong formation, or part of the call was left out or guys didnt hear something they should have or I didnt say it.
Finley stayed on the field to block for Mason Crosbys 23-yard field goal, but on his way to the sideline, McCarthy met him on the field and followed him toward the far end of the bench, where Finley was supposed to join the kickoff unit. When he got there, special teams assistant Shawn Slocum waved off Finley.
Finley, who earlier in the season angered the coaches when he said he wasnt be used correctly and also criticized Rodgers, again deflected the blame.
It was really just miscommunication with the play call, Finley said. It wasnt on me at all.
When asked what McCarthy said to him, Finley said: Just to get down there on kickoff. He said, Well fix it tomorrow. But we needed this game.