Bears’ Cordarrelle Patterson: My hit on punt coverage wasn’t early

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Bears’ Cordarrelle Patterson figured he might have hit Packers return man Tramon Williams too early while covering a punt in the first quarter Sunday. That’s what officials told him after throwing a flag for interference that had a lasting impact in the Bears’ 21-13 loss at Lambeau Field.

Williams fumbled when Patterson hit him, and the Bears recovered the ball. The 15-yard penalty, however, negated the fumble and moved the Packers to the Bears’ 35. They scored a touchdown four plays later.

At halftime, Patterson checked his phone and saw video replay that he said showed his hit was on time.

‘‘My girl and everybody sent it to me,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought I made a bad play. I asked the ref — ‘I thought you got there too early’ — but [then] I watched it.’’

Patterson said teams should be able to challenge such calls.

‘‘I can’t control anything like that,’’ he said. ‘‘So what they call, it stands.’’

Coach Matt Nagy said the play was close.

On the last play of the third quarter, Patterson thought he had both feet in bounds for a third-down completion that would have given the Bears a first down at the Packers’ 2. He was ruled out of bounds, however, and the Bears had to settle for a field goal.

‘‘I don’t know what I did to the refs this week,’’ he said with a smile. ‘‘Somebody told me I need to start bringing them donuts and stuff before the game. Next week, I’m going to have to bring some hot chocolate and all that stuff.’’