Packers’ Xavier McKinney refuses to buy the hype, ‘I think the biggest thing about being 2-0…’

Xavier McKinney says a lot of teams start 2-0 and flame out, and there’s a lot of football left to play

The Green Bay Packers shut down the Detroit Lions in a stunning NFC North clash to start the season, just days after trading for three-time All-Pro Micah Parsons.

The Parsons trade already had many suggesting the Packers would be Super Bowl contenders, and their 27-13 win over Detroit added to the anticipation.

Some claimed the Lions weren’t the same without their two coordinators from last season, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, until they hung 52 points on the Chicago Bears in Week 2.

The narrative quickly changed, claiming the Lions aren’t a bad team, the Packers are just that good.

It was more of the same in Week 2, with defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley once again calling a tremendous game. The Packers held the Commanders to 230 total yards of offense, including just 51 total rushing yards.

They refused to let Jayden Daniels run, and were forcing him to hold onto the football in the pocket with excellent coverage taking away his receivers downfield.

Now 2-0, with wins over both teams that made the NFC Championship game last season, many are ready to crown the Packers as the team that can overthrow the Philadelphia Eagles and make the Super Bowl.

Safety Xavier McKinney says not so fast. In an interview from the locker room, he said:

“I’m not going to sit up here and say we’re the best team in the NFL. It’s just two games. We’ve got a lot of football to play.”

He continued, “I think the biggest thing about being 2-0, you can’t really get complacent, and you can’t feel like you won the Super Bowl. Because there’s a lot of —— ——- that start off 2-0, and at the end of the season they don’t be worth —-.”

McKinney is now in his sixth season in the NFL, and his second with the Green Bay Packers. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the New York Giants, but they let him walk as a free agent at the close of the 2023 season.

He turned out to be one of the best free agency signings of the offseason that year, going on to be named a first-team All-Pro in his first season with the Packers.

McKinney is now a veteran presence for a lot of the young talent shining through in Green Bay

Xavier McKinney thrived in Jeff Hafley’s system last season, recording five interceptions in the first five games of the year. He ended the year with eight, earning All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his career.

The safety had signed a four-year, $67 million contract as a free agent, and the Packers have been getting great value from him ever since.

McKinney is helping to lead a defense that has a lot of young promising players coming through, including fellow safety Evan Williams.

Williams is now playing his second season in the NFL, and had an interception on Jared Goff during the opening game of the season this year.

The Packers’ defense is thriving, and Jeff Hafley is going to be a big name in the league if they continue on their current trajectory.