GREEN BAY — Like a baseball hitter or fielder unhappy with the official scorer's call of a hit vs. an error, Shawn Slocum would like a word with the NFL on whatever they want to call Jarrett Boykin's play on a punt on Sunday night.
The Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator was less than thrilled when the play — on which Boykin burst through the Chicago Bears' punt protection and arrived so quickly at Bears punter Pat O'Donnell that Boykin's right foot made contact with the ball before O'Donnell's could.
Boykin then recovered the ball at the Bears' 8-yard line, although the Packers ended up settling for a field goal that made it 45-0 early in the third quarter. The Packers went on to win, 55-14.
After initially being ruled a blocked punt, the scorer changed the call to a fumble recovery. That also meant a 12-yard rushing loss for O'Donnell, a number that certainly helped the Packers' previously 32nd-ranked run defense statistically.
Of course, it also cost the special teams a blocked punt, which would have been their second against the Bears in a little over a year. On Nov. 4, 2013 — the game in which Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone — the Packers also blocked a punt.
"We're not done yet. We'll see," Slocum said when asked if he was disappointed to lose the blocked punt on the stat sheet. "They may look at that and adjust that because obviously on the television copy, you can see Jarrett hits the ball. The punt is initiated when the punter releases the ball and [Boykin] got there so fast that he hit the ball and knocked it off the line to be hit and struck with his leg.
"So, I don't know. It is what it is. A great play."
Slocum, who first started coaching special teams in 1990 as a graduate assistant at the University of Pittsburgh, said he'd never seen anything like that play in his 25 years of coaching.
"I've seen guys get there before the punter strikes the ball and actually tackle him, but that was a little strange," Slocum said. "Jarrett jumped in the air and struck the ball with his foot. It was kind of odd."
While Slocum said his focus is now on preparing for Sunday's game against Philadelphia, he does believe he's right to think it should have been a block.
"We'll talk to all those involved. In my opinion, it's a blocked punt. We're moving forward," Slocum said. "Whatever they want to do statistically, they can do. We'll go in the room Wednesday and say, 'Great job on the blocked punt. Now let's get ready for the Eagles.'"
Jason Wilde wrote: