'He's different': Inside the mind of Xavier McKinney, face of the Packers defense

Xavier McKinney loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as a kid, but only under one condition.

He had to make them.

Young Xavier was very particular about his peanut butter-to-jelly ratio.

Anyone else who made the sandwich for him slathered equal parts peanut butter and jelly.

He wanted more peanut butter than jelly, in only a way he could proportion them because he was skinny and thought he needed the extra protein.

Advertisement I dont know why I was like that as a kid, McKinney said in a sit-down interview with The Athletic .

When I do certain things, I want it to look a certain way ...

Its (as) simple as a sandwich, just putting it together how I want it to be put together and not letting other people do it for me because I know how I want it to look.

Little did McKinney know that those obsessive-compulsive tendencies would help him become arguably the NFLs best safety and a Pro Bowl starter in his first season with the Packers after signing a four-year, $67 million contract with Green Bay at 24 years old last spring.

As McKinney grew into the player and person he is today, it became clear why he was like that as a kid.

Why he wanted to spread the peanut butter and jelly himself.

Why he stayed in dorms his entire time at Alabama despite having the option to live off campus at a party school.

Why these days, hes the only player in early morning meetings with defensive coaches at Lambeau Field.

To one of the best in the world at what he does, routine, discipline and perfection are paramount for success.

Hes had to have his stuff his way his entire life, said Eboni Merriwether, McKinneys mom.

Its a discipline, its a routine and a lot of people just cant live just by routines.

It gets boring ...

Its redundant.

I need some excitement, but this kid gets excitement out of his routine.

That is his excitement.

He does the same thing over and over again and in that way, hes trying to perfect it every single time.

McKinney remembers the exact moment from his childhood when he dedicated himself to discipline.

He was a freshman at Roswell High School in Georgia and Vanderbilt was sold on McKinney as a player, but it didnt offer him because his grades werent good enough.

That, McKinney said, woke him up.

He literally did just that, early, for a workout class with the football team every morning before focusing on classes that his mom valued more.

She threatened to pull him from football if his grades werent sufficient.

Shed involve his coaches if he wasnt meeting standards in the classroom or at home.

Advertisement If you watch McKinney today and wonder where he gets his fire, theres your answer.

If you play her in paper, rock, scissors or tic-tac-toe, shes gonna try to cut your throat to beat you, said John Ford, McKinneys head coach at Roswell.

Derrick Ansley, the Packers defensive passing game coordinator who recruited McKinney to Alabama, knows it, too.

Hes very serious about his approach, very serious about the game.

His momma is a little bit like that, too, Ansley said.

Shes a competitor, Miss Eboni.

Merriwether has two kids, one a Pro Bowl starter and another son 7 years older who attended military school.

Xavier was rambunctious, mischievous and a challenge to corral with schoolwork.

She worked multiple jobs to provide for her sons, so she enlisted her parents to live with them when Xavier was 10 to help maintain the structure she wanted while running a tight ship.

I was just really hard-nosed about him doing what he was supposed to do at all times, Merriwether said.

Like, I needed him to do well in school.

I needed him to do well on the field, off the field, just be a good kid and a respectful kid.

Thats something that my parents instilled in me and my brother and its something that I definitely had to surround him with during his upbringing, was just the structure of it all.

McKinney insists hes always stayed out of trouble.

He was a captain for the Giants and would be a captain for the Packers if they elected them.

His moms influence even rubs off during interactions with reporters, for which McKinney won the Tom Mulhern Stand-Up Guy Award, given annually to the player or players who best represent professionalism and cooperation with local media.

McKinney will often remain at his locker for abnormally long periods during the week or after games, giving each reporter approaching him in different waves the time and insightful answers they need.

GO DEEPER Packers stumble into playoffs after finale loss to Bears with much reason for concern It was my mom, my grandparents, my uncle, McKinney said.

We all lived together when I was in middle school, high school, so the job that they did with me of just making sure that I was a respectful young man, make sure that I went about my business the right way, making sure I knew right from wrong, that taught me pretty much everything that I know now.

In order to get to this point, you cant do it without having a village behind you and those people, my family, thats my village.

Theyve molded me into who I am today.

While Alabama students flooded the bars, McKinney was submerged in freezing water.

A self-proclaimed introvert, McKinney doesnt enjoy being around large groups of people, anyway.

In college, it was football, class and video games in the dorm.

He declined to live off campus because he simply didnt need to.

Advertisement It was a Saturday night, Ford said.

They had played like the 3:30 game against Mississippi State or something like that and then on his Instagram story, its like 8:30, 9 oclock at night and hes in the cold tub in Alabamas facility and on the TV is like LSU or somebody, whoever theyre playing next week.

Hes watching the TV copy of their game from that day while hes in the cold tub getting his body right and getting his mind turned to the next game.

So its no surprise to Ford what happened after the Packers beat the Jaguars in Week 8 this season.

McKinney rode one bus to the airport, while defensive backs coach Ryan Downard was on another when his phone buzzed.

It was McKinney, asking for tape of Lions quarterback Jared Goff, whom the Packers were facing in seven days (he asks for QB tape early every week, Downard said).

Some players enact the 24-hour rule to enjoy victories, but McKinney barely gives himself 24 minutes.

Ill enjoy it when I can win the Super Bowl, he said.

Once you win, its in the past.

Obviously, you figure out what you couldve done better and you look at that, but for me, win or loss, its onto the next.

I think thats just the mindset that you have to have in this league because its a competitive league.

Every team is going to be different.

Every week is going to be different.

I just try to make sure that Im always one step ahead and try to get a day ahead.

McKinneys weekly routine involves constant communication with Ansley, Downard and defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.

Theyll give McKinney the defensive game plan on Tuesday night and Downard might FaceTime him to run through it.

On Wednesday morning, McKinney crashes the defensive coaches meeting around 7:40 a.m.

for extra tidbits (he comes in early every morning, Ansley said).

Hell meet with all three coaches separately his coordinator, his DB coach and his passing game coordinator to best absorb that weeks plan before the week of meetings and practice even starts and to dish nuggets to his teammates in advance.

Advertisement On a Wednesday night in mid-November, for example, McKinney texted Hafley at 6:30 p.m.

to ask if he was done with the third-down plan for that Sundays game against the Bears.

Hafley sent it to him and McKinney arrived at the facility Thursday morning before any other player to go over it in person with Hafley, then review it with Downard and the other defensive backs, then translate it to the field for that days walkthrough and practice.

Because he wants to get it right, right away, and he gets angry when he doesnt, Hafley said.

Because thats what the great ones do and he holds himself to such a high standard, where he doesnt want to make mistakes, and it shows ...

thats the biggest kind of look-in I can give you to what hes like.

Hes always wanting to be on top of his stuff.

The details, the execution, the competitor.

Thats who he is and thats why hes a really good player.

On Friday, McKinney leads a signal-callers meeting with the defense to drill communication.

No coaches are present.

Downard makes a cut-up of 15-20 plays for McKinney and players gather in the defensive meeting room, calling out different things on tape to ensure theyre on the same page.

Hes like the glue in our room, cornerback Carrington Valentine said.

He keeps everyone together off the field.

Hes been really just the best mentor I couldve asked for, rookie safety Evan Williams said.

Coming into this league, you naturally just try to find somebody that you can emulate their habits and just their day-to-day, kinda seeing what being a pro is all about.

Hes been the face of our defense.

Want to know how McKinneys brain works before the snap on the field because of all this preparation? Asked for a specific example of when his film study directly paid off during a game, he offered two.

Advertisement I would say the Indy game, he said of the Week 2 matchup almost 15 weeks later.

There was a lot of looks that I could call from that game.

On my pick, them having condensed splits, knowing the personnel I think they were trying to throw it to 14 (wide receiver Alec Pierce) Ja (cornerback Jaire Alexander) was on the left side and (Pierce) ran the over, so just knowing personnel, I already knew who their deep route runners were.

So I already knew that ahead of time ...

they ran a deep post and an over and I already knew what they were trying to throw the ball to, so I took away the post and I was literally sitting right there waiting for the over to come over.

Xavier McKinney with two INTs in his first two games for the @Packers ! : #INDvsGB on FOX : https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/TjOsJaCsC9 NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024 The second instance he mentions is his interception near the goal line against the Vikings in Week 4 when he tracked running back Aaron Jones on a corner route out of the backfield.

The Commanders ran that against McKinney when he was with the Giants, but they didnt throw it to the corner route out of the backfield.

Thats why I played it so well because I saw it before, McKinney said.

When I saw it, I said, Oh, I already know whats coming, so I got an early break on it.

...

Even though its a different team.

Xavier McKinney has his FOURTH INT in the first FOUR games! : #MINvsGB on CBS/Paramount+ : https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/LjBauScE2D NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2024 Downard has coached in the NFL for nine seasons, the last seven in Green Bay.

He said hes never worked with a player as prepared as McKinney.

Hes a special one, Downard said.

Hes different, Ansley added.

Hes always trying to drain everything he can out of everybody in the building.

Hes a technician, man, said running back Josh Jacobs, McKinneys teammate for two seasons at Alabama.

Hes a guy thats gonna live, eat, sleep football.

McKinneys nutritional idiosyncrasies still exist.

Each morning, he eats apples, grapes, a sausage patty and cold eggs, according to cornerback Keisean Nixon.

Not cold.

He lying, McKinney said.

But I put them in the container and I bring them with me.

By the time I get here, its not gonna be hot still.

S aint gonna be hot no more.

It is what it is.

Advertisement McKinney said the facilitys chefs make great food, but he prefers his own from home thats already prepared.

He eat the same breakfast every day, so I cant do that, Nixon said earlier this season.

So thats probably why I dont got seven picks right now.

I think that was a big-ass free-agent signing, but its kudos to him and his preparation.

I see him come in the building every day and do the same thing.

Not only is McKinneys breakfast the same, but so is his lunch a bowl with chicken, rice, corn and black beans.

For dinner, its fish.

Its just routine.

I dont know.

Im a person I could do the same thing every day and Im fine, McKinney said.

I stay disciplined with it.

Yeah, thats just kind of what I do.

Whether its his nutrition, his preparation off the field or his prowess on it, McKinneys routine, discipline and pursuit of perfection have led him to his professions peak.

He finished the regular season second in the NFL with eight interceptions, incited fear in quarterbacks looking to throw deep and, in addition to his individual accolades, helped the Packers defense finish sixth in points allowed per game and fourth in takeaways.

If the Packers are to upset the Eagles on Sunday, their defense will have to show up against one of the NFLs best offenses.

Theyll know who to follow, the guy whos made it to the top doing things his way because its the only way he knows how.

(Top photo: Todd Rosenberg / Getty Images).

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