Bears receiver Equanimeous St. Brown received an apology text from Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander on Sunday — but didn’t know what it was for.
Monday morning, he found out. In a postgame interview, Alexander — who intercepted Justin Fields’ pass when he jumped in front of St. Brown with about three minutes to play — called the receiver a “scrub.”
The two were teammates together in Green Bay for four years, and were in the same draft class.
“I mean he had already apologized for it, so it was probably heat of the moment for him,” St. Brown said Monday. “I don’t take anything personal. Yeah, it is what it is.”
He said Alexander is about more than the one comment.
“I know how he is as a person,” St. Brown said. “He’s a great player. A lot of DBs talk a lot. He apologized, it is what it is. People talk [crap].”
St. Brown had three catches for 85 yards Sunday, including a 56-yarder with Alexander in coverage. That’s what prompted Alexander’s comments.
“Man, he a scrub,” he said in the locker room after the game. “I can’t believe I let him catch that on me. But hat’s off to him because he did make a good catch.”
St. Brown was criticized by both Fields and head coach Matt Eberflus for not fighting his way out of a curl route late in the game, which led to Alexander intercepting the pass. At the least, they said, he needed to try to keep the pass from becoming an interception.
“I’ve got to try to get that ball out sooner,” St. Brown said.
Sanborn aims lower
Rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn missed 13 percent of his tackles against the Jets and 25 percent of them the week before against the Falcons, per Pro Football Focus. The Bears wanted him to aim lower on ball-carrier’s bodies, and worked on it in practice.
Sunday, Sanborn didn’t miss a single tackle — and finished with a game-high 10.
“With Jack Sanborn, we wanted to lower his target level,” Eberflus said. “Obviously, tackling two really good backs, I thought we did a really good job.”
This and that
• The Bears lined up defensive lineman Justin Jones outside the right tackle for six snaps. Before Sunday, that had only happened twice this season. Eberflus likes a “thumper” defensive lineman at left end — he’s had players weigh up to 290 pounds at that position at previous stops. Plus, the Bears’ depth at end is poor.
“He can do all the movements and all the different things,:” Eberlus said. “And he’s a solid rusher out there too.”
• Receiver Velus Jones played 23 percent of the Bears’ offensive snaps, his highest percentage this season.
