GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – The NFL has a 24-hour rule. Whether you win or lose, a player has 24 hours to celebrate victory or suffer defeat before moving on to the next game.

For Green Bay Packers safety Xavier McKinney, it’s more like the 24-minute rule.

A few weeks ago, McKinney caught his sixth pass of the season in a win at Jacksonville. He texted McKinney defensive backs coach Ryan Downard on the bus on the way to the airport.

Was Lions quarterback Jared Goff film ready?

“That’s the mentality of the big guys,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said.

McKinney is having a Defensive Player of the Year caliber season. He shares the NFL lead with career-high interceptions, and the Packers are 6-3, thanks in part to what McKinney does on the field and in the locker room.

Why not enjoy it?

“When I win the Super Bowl, I’m going to enjoy it,” McKinney said before Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. “For the most part, once you win it’s in the past. Obviously, you figure out what you can do better and look at it, but for me, win or loss, it’s up to the next person.

“I think that’s just the mentality you have to have in this league because it’s a competitive league. Every team is going to be different, every week is going to be different. I’m always trying to make sure I’m one step ahead and stay one day ahead.”

McKinney has a similar spirit as Downard’s position coach.

McKinney was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October. It was a huge accomplishment, but the Packers didn’t sign McKinney, and McKinney isn’t playing for Player of the Week or Player of the Month honors.

“I went straight to X when he came out (of the team meeting), like I always do, and I said to him, ‘Ignore this noise,’ because I don’t want him looking at this stuff right now.” This is what Downard said: “Naturally, let’s be realistic, he sees, he hears. It’s a great honor, it’s great, but it’s not the goal we set. This is not the goal he set for himself. This may sound like coach talk, but I truly believe it. …

“People are telling me things about it. My wife sent me the chart (after McKinney won the award), so I go straight to “He thinks I’m a bit of a jerk but that’s the approach he should have. He won’t be impressed by it but he probably looks a bit crazy at me when I tell him.”

He’s not crazy. Appreciated.

“Obviously that’s not the end goal,” McKinney said. “I think he knows it as well as I do and that’s why I love him so much because he will always push me to be better.

“Obviously it’s nice to have this success and to be able to get this award, but at the end of the day there’s so much more to achieve and more to do. I like that he holds me to the standard of, ‘Okay, let it go.’ That’s who I am, but I just have someone else in my ear saying, ‘Hey, about this Don’t worry, to the next one.’”

McKinney starred at Alabama before being drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2020 draft. But McKinney’s mindset predated his time with legendary Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban.

“I’ve always been wired that way,” McKinney said. “I’m always trying to get better. “I’m trying to find ways to be a better player because I know my game isn’t perfect.”

McKinney may not be perfect, but he’s a perfect example of what Downard can do in a position group that includes two rookie starters in Javon Bullard and Evan Williams.

He’s made a lot of big plays, but he doesn’t pursue them to the detriment of the defense. According to Sports Info Solutions, McKinney has more interceptions (six) than incompletions allowed (five). Pro Football Focus credited him with just three missed tackles.

It’s not often a big free agent signing is worth every penny of his contract, but his four-year, $67 million contract almost seems like a bargain considering what he means to the defense.

Frankly, part of it is his talent. But he does everything possible to maximize his God-given talent.

“It’s really competitive,” Hafley said. “I got a text from him last night at probably 6:30: ‘Hey, are you done with plan three? Can you send it to me?’ And you send it to him, and then this morning he comes in before anyone else, and he wants to sit down and meet, and he wants me to talk to him about it.

“And then he goes over it with the RDs and the DBs, and he does it both in the preview and on the field, because he wants to do everything right away, and when he doesn’t, he gets angry, because that’s what big guys do. And he holds himself to such high standards that he doesn’t want to make mistakes, and that’s It shows.

“That’s what your really good players do. Every game is important as it is for us. So that’s the biggest perspective I can give you on what he’s like. He always wants to be at work. Details, application, competitor; That’s who he is and that’s why he’s a really good actor.”

McKinney’s mentality would make the legendary Vince Lombardi proud.

“I’m always trying to chase perfection,” he said. “I may never be able to touch it, but for me, I’m just trying to find ways I can improve right away (snaps fingers). Even in college, during a spring game, right after that game, or whatever the case may be, I would go to film and re-watch everything so it would stay fresh in my mind and get those fixes early.

“That way, when we go back to the game with the coaches, I’ve already watched it, so you go over the same thing. If you look at something 10 different times, you’ll find 10 different things you can do to improve your game. That’s how I see it and that’s how I operate.”

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