LaFleur Ready to ‘Grind’ with Rodgers to Get to Super Bowl

Aaron Rodgers is capable of playing for as long as he wants, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said at the NFL Spring Meetings.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – When Aaron Rodgers announced his decision to return to the Green Bay Packers for the 2022 NFL season on March 8, coach Matt LaFleur got a text message that did more than take him off the edge of his seat.

It got him out of his seat.

“I was in an offensive meeting, so it was pretty exciting,” LaFleur said on Tuesday at the NFL Spring Meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. “I actually darted out right away to make sure I read it the correct way before I let anybody know. I would say I had pretty good feelings about it throughout the course of the offseason – since the season had ended up to that point. But until you know, you really don’t know.”

Rodgers’ return, of course, cements the Packers’ status as contenders. While an unprecedented three consecutive 13-win seasons didn’t mean a hill of beans during those postseasons, Rodgers’ presence following back-to-back MVP seasons at least gives LaFleur a chance for a fourth consecutive season coaching a Super Bowl contender.

After yet another crushing postseason failure and a second consecutive offseason filled with drama, LaFleur is hopeful Rodgers can change both dynamics this season. The 38-year-old Rodgers will be taking his 12th swing at winning a second Super Bowl in 2022. It’s worth noting Tom Brady won Super Bowls during his age-39, 41 and 43 seasons.

Coming off two of the best seasons of his career – his 2020 was one of the best in NFL history – Rodgers remains on top of his game. So long as the passion burns, the Packers’ championship window will remain open.

“I think he’ll go as long as he wants to go,” LaFleur said when asked how long he thinks Rodgers will play. “I think he’s got not only the talent and the mind, but the way he takes care of himself is as good as I’ve seen. He’s super-disciplined in terms of everything does from what he puts into his body to how he prepares physically and mentally. Those aren’t conversations that we have regularly, so we’re just going to take advantage of the time that he is with us and continue to try to work and grind and hopefully someday be able to get a Super Bowl.”

The trade of Davante Adams will make that goal more difficult to obtain. With Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb serving as the only experienced receivers on the roster, general manager Brian Gutekunst figures to use at least one of his premium draft picks on a receiver. The faster that Rodgers can build some chemistry with that rookie (or rookies), the faster that newcomer (or newcomers) will be able to contribute and the faster he can become a go-to receiver.

LaFleur, though, stopped short of pushing Rodgers to participate during the three weeks of voluntary organized team activities. Rodgers had been a fixture at this practices throughout his career but skipped OTAs and the mandatory minicamp last year, then talked during the course of the season about how much he believed he benefitted from his offseason approach.

“Certainly, yeah, you’d love everybody to be part of the offseason,” LaFleur said, “but, as we’ve seen in the past, it doesn’t have a huge impact on how he’s going to perform. He wasn’t part of the offseason last year, and I’d say he went out and played well, played at a high level. I think there’s plenty of opportunity between the time when we actually start training camp to Week 1 to get on the same page with everybody.”