Packers CB Jaire Alexander has not been impactful enough to be as brash as he is

Supreme confidence is a massive part of being a skill player in the NFL, but it's especially important at cornerback, where you need to be able to bounce back quickly after being burned in today's offense-happy league.

That's part of the charm of Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander. The Packers took him No. 18 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft and he has the confidence and swagger of a first-rounder. 

In 2018 and 2022, his two Pro Bowl seasons, it's worth noting that he's also backed up his talk with some walk.

The brash confidence is great when he backs it up, but on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, his attitude could have cost the Packers in a big way.

Alexander pulled a "wedding crashers" on the pregame coin toss, unexpectedly walking out with the team's captains before the game. That would be abnormal on its own, but then the bombastic cornerback took it a step further and actually called tails and upon winning, said "I want our defense on the field."

Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports explains why that could have been a massive problem for Green Bay:

Instead of kicking or returning, teams are actually deciding when they want the choice to kick or return to open a half. When one team says "We'll receive," that's fine; they're just saying they are making the choice now and would like to receive the ball.

But you must never, ever say, "We'll kick." Because an official might take that as deciding you are making the choice to open the game with a kick and then the other team will make its choice at the start of the second half, at which point they will obviously choose to receive, resulting in your team kicking off to start both halves. That's why players always say "defer," because they are deferring their team's choice to the second half.