Packers' Matt LaFleur Reviews Jake Luton's Debut, Jay Gruden's Offensive Scheme

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has been around a lot of talented quarterbacks in his career, making his positive impressions of Jake Luton notable.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Green Bay to face off against the Packers this weekend, most of the focus will be on the two quarterbacks -- Aaron Rodgers, an NFL legend and eventual Hall of Famer, and Jake Luton, who will be making his second career start. 

But the game within the game will be played out by Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, two former quarterbacks who orchestrate each offense.  

LaFleur, a second-year head coach, is especially familiar with what Gruden brings to the field. LaFleur hasn't served on one of Gruden's coaching staffs, having left Washington the same year Gruden was hired to lead them. 

But he is a coach who has been on some of the best offensive staffs in the league over the last decade, and his travels with Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay have caught him up to speed on what to expect from a classic Gruden offense.

"Jay Gruden is a guy that I've always had a lot of respect for," LaFleur said Wednesday. 

"He's been doing this thing for a really long time. I think just he does such a great job of giving your defense different, you know, conflicts, whether it's, you know, having complementary plays that play off one another or staying pretty balanced. So, I think he's one of the best at it, and he does a great job."

Among Gruden's biggest responsibilities in Week 10, and among the things LaFleur will have to make sure his defense is most keyed in on, will be Luton. The rookie passer didn't take an NFL snap, whether regular season or preseason, until Week 9, but the sixth-round Oregon State product impressed. 

Luton finished his NFL debut by completing 26/38 passes (68.42%) for 304 yards, giving him 8.0 yards per attempt. He also threw a touchdown and an interception, ending the game with a passer rating of 90.0. He had one rush of 13 yards for a touchdown.

While the Jaguars didn't get the win, Luton did lead them on five scoring drives and scored a touchdown with less than 2:00 left to give the Jaguars a chance to tie the game. He was far from perfect, but it was a solid debut. 

LaFleur, who has been a quarterback and a quarterbacks coach in the past, came away impressed with Jacksonville's newest rookie signal-caller. To get praise from someone who knows the position as well as LaFleur is noteworthy, even if you could chalk some up to potential "coach speak".

"Yeah, I thought Jake was really impressive -- just his ability to go out there and lead the team down with an opportunity to win the game. And certainly he looked very poised in the pocket," LaFleur said. 

"He's a big, strong-armed quarterback, capable of making some big-time throws as is evident by the ball to Chark there in that game."

Whether Luton can show off his big arm and create more explosive plays to Chark will likely determine whether the Jaguars are able to shock the Packers. If he can play to the level he did in Week 9 -- a level which left a positive impression on LaFleur -- perhaps they may just have a chance.