Stefon Diggs, Jaire Alexander get into heated confrontation before Texans vs. Packers

A change of scenery for Stefon Diggs hasn't settled the bad blood with one of his longtime rivals.

Prior to Sunday's game, the Houston Texans wide receiver had a heated confrontation with Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander in which the two star players needed to be separated from one another.

Diggs and Alexander appeared to have an exchange of words near the Packers' sideline that featured the wide receiver swatting at the cornerback. Packers coach Matt LaFleur stepped between the two and Packers cornerback Keisean Nixon approached Diggs and placed his hand on the receiver's chest, after which Diggs shoved him. A Texans staff member and multiple officials then helped usher Diggs away, but several more Packers players arrived. Alexander then re-emerged and appeared to shove Diggs' face mask as tempers flared.

Diggs told reporters after the game the issue started when he was heading to the locker room and heard "somebody chirping."

"I don't give a (expletive) if I'm by myself or with a million," Diggs said. "I'm never the bigger person. I ain't letting (expletive) go. They picked it up or whatever. But I ain't with the football tough guy (expletive)."

Diggs was held to a season-low 23 yards on five catches, but the Packers secured a 24-22 win on a 45-yard Brandon McManus field goal as time expired.

"Those guys have a history," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said in a postgame news conference. "They've been going at it before. We don't want to encourage that, right? We just want to go play ball the right way and make sure it's settled on the field. We can't be about chirping and all the extra stuff, we just have to be about executing when the ball is snapped."

Diggs and Alexander sparred as NFC North rivals from 2018-19, when Diggs was still a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The two got heated again in 2022, when Diggs and Alexander both emerged from the Highmark Stadium tunnel at the same time in the Buffalo Bills' 27-17 win over the Packers.

"I don't give a (expletive) who started it, I finished it," Diggs said after the game. "I got the win."

(This story has been updated with new information.)

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stefon Diggs, Jaire Alexander get heated before Texans vs. Packers