If you’re searching for reasons why the Green Bay Packers have struggled on offense this season, the Monday Night Football broadcast booth shared what might be a big reason – and head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed that reason.
During Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams, ESPN commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman claimed that the Packers offense had not been watching practice film together, but was watching it in individual groups instead. He said that changed at some point this season, and it helped the offense.
“LaFleur said it changed when we all started watching tape of both our Wednesday and Thursday practices together as a group, so we could talk and Aaron can hear what Christian Watson is thinking and Romeo Doubs, and not only that but get to know them as people which maybe humanized him and took a little bit of the pressure off,” Buck said on the broadcast, according to Pro Football Talk.
“When LaFleur said that, I was shocked that they hadn’t been meeting all along,” Aikman replied.
LaFleur's response to the MNF broadcast reporting that the offense was not watching practice film all together as a unit until some point this season. He would not say when that changed and was very vague about the details here. https://t.co/ksN8mLxbYW pic.twitter.com/YvlIV7em7h
— Kalyn Kahler (@kalynkahler) December 20, 2022
And Matt LaFleur confirmed their reporting to Kalyh Kahler of The Athletic.
“Yeah that’s something that just thinking back in previous years, we had done that, most of the time together and then after that first year, again we had a more veteran group of wideouts and we allowed it to, just from an efficiency standpoint and a detail standpoint, allowed the position groups to meet independently of one another in some instances,” LaFleur said. “Now, I would say, I can’t remember what week it was, but we decided to start watching . . . every practice together as a whole unit.”
It’s certainly not a good look, but at least they made the change.
[Pro Football Talk, The Athletic]
