GREEN BAY, Wis. — A day after Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard criticized Packers tight end Tucker Kraft for a low block that injured Vikings linebacker Pat Jones II in Sunday’s game, Packers coach Matt LaFleur defended his player’s actions.

LaFleur called the block “a totally legal play” and said it was “the same thing their guys were doing to our defensive ends.”

Greenard posted on social media that Kraft should “Be a man block up high” and called for the NFL to get rid of low blocks.

“You’ve got to defeat the block, and there’s a lot of different ways to do it,” LaFleur said. “[Packers defensive end Brenton] Cox got sawed off by Johnny Mundt one time, and they got somebody else. They did it to us twice in the game. What are we talking about?”

Kraft lowered a shoulder and blocked Jones near his right knee on a rushing play by running back Josh Jacobs during Minnesota’s 27-25 victory Sunday. Jones left the game and did not return, but Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said the linebacker has a chance to play in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Detroit Lions.

“We did get some really positive news on Pat Jones today,” O’Connell said Monday. “He’ll have a chance to even possibly make it this week. We’ll see how he works through it.”

Kraft was not asked about the block, which went unpenalized, during his session with reporters after the game.

LaFleur said he understands why defensive players would not like it and added that NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent has discussed trying to eliminate low blocks all together.

“It’s part of the game,” LaFleur said. “So, if you don’t want to get those types of blocks, you can’t be so out of control. We get it too with our defensive ends. If we’re flying off the ball, you’re going to get cross-sift[ed]. That’s a way to try to slow down just the speed off the edge. It’s a great equalizer. That’s tough for an offense to have to deal with that, so you’ve got to have some sort of recourse to try to slow somebody down.

“Otherwise, you’re going to put everybody at risk — your quarterbacks, guys are just going to tee off. We’ll see what happens in the future, but it’s no different than what are we talking about, like low tackles. You see that around the league all the time. Then we should eliminate all low hits below the knee, period. When receivers catch a ball and they’re going across the middle, and a safety who I won’t name, goes and saws their legs out. That happens. We should get rid of all that then, if that’s the case.”

But LaFleur reiterated that until something changes, the cross-sift block that Kraft used is a legal play.

“If we get rid of the cross-sift, then we should get rid of low hits and there should be a strike zone on every player, above the knee and below the head, or below the neck,” LaFleur said. “Because I do agree, some of those are dangerous.

“It’s not like — our intent is not to go hurt somebody. You never want to see that. I don’t want to see that from either team. The intent is to slow somebody down, and I do think it’s part of our job as coaches, is to teach our, whether it’s an edge rusher or whoever, how to defeat a cut block. And conversely, you’ve got to teach them how to throw a good cut, you know? That’s part of our responsibility, and then the players have got to go out there and apply that.”