Monday LaFleur: Calm Before Storm for Packers

The Green Bay Packers will hold a typical training camp practice on Monday. On Wednesday, the New England Patriots will come to town for two joint practices and a preseason game.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Aug 14, 2023 11:27 AM EDT

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On a rainy Monday, the Green Bay Packers will gather for yet another training camp practice. Because of the weather, the team will practice inside the Don Hutson Center.

Call it the calm before the storm – as much as there can be calm on a football field, anyway. After an off-day on Tuesday, the Packers will host joint practices against the New England Patriots on Wednesday and Thursday before playing the Patriots in the second preseason game on Saturday night.

Needless to say, this will be a huge stretch for players fighting for roles on gameday or spots on the 53-man roster.

“It’s going to be a long week for the guys,” coach Matt LaFleur said of practices on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday leading into Saturday’s game.

While there were compromises, last week’s practice at Cincinnati was a relatively easy one to put together because of the relationship between LaFleur and Bengals coach Zac Taylor from their time together working under Rams coach Sean McVay. Before the Rams and Bengals squared off in the Super Bowl a couple years ago, LaFleur called them “two of my closest friends” in football.

On the other sideline this week will be legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick. LaFleur and Belichick don’t have a history together. So, how was it agreeing on a format for the two practices?

“He’s been great,” LaFleur said. “Had a couple back and forths in terms of the schedule – still finalizing all the details – but, for the most part, it’s been pretty smooth. He’s arguably the best to ever do it, so I thought it would be in our best interest to try to learn a few things from him.

“I’ve always admired how their team has played, having gone against him many times. Having them here last year, I thought just specifically on the defensive side of the ball, I thought they did a really good job of attacking the football, probably as good as anybody we played last year. So, wanted to just see their practice habits and how they go about their business.”

Here are a few more highlights from LaFleur’s pre-practice news conference on Monday.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)

On rookie safety Anthony Johnson, who took some first-team reps on Sunday:

“I think he’s done a great job. You can certainly see his speed, his athleticism. He made plays on [special] teams, which is absolutely critical. But I thought he went in there, outside of the dropped interception I thought he played pretty well. He’s got to make that play, he knows it, we know it. Those opps are few and far between. But I think he’s done a great job. He loves football, he’s totally invested into it and he’s doing a really nice job for us.”

The Packers practiced inside due to the rain. What does LaFleur think of practicing with wet footballs to simulate rainy games?

“Not a huge fan of that, to be honest with you. I know some coaches are. I’ve experienced some guys dunking the balls into the water and I think it’s totally unrealistic. Usually, they’re trying to cover them up out there. Not to say that they’re not going to get a little wet. That’s not something that I prescribe to. I think it’s gimmicky as all get out.”

On the growth of Jordan Love:

“I think what we’ve seen is he’s taken ownership of it. That’s obviously really tough to do when you’re the backup. I’ve experienced that with other guys, whether it’s Kirk Cousins when we were in Washington, you can kind of see when they get their opportunity how they command it. It’s been cool to see him grow and get more comfortable being the guy. Shoot, I don’t know about you guys, but yesterday at practice you could see he was out there with a little swag. I thought he was out there executing at a high level, too. So that’s kind of fun to see these guys grow right before your eyes.”