LaFleur betting on his math: Training camp

Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur “trust(ed) his gut” in keeping Aaron Rodgers and 32 other players on the sideline for Thursday’s preseason debacle in Winnipeg.

“The risk-reward wasn’t worth it to me,” LaFleur said on Friday.

With that, LaFleur is going to roll the dice that a month’s worth of training camp practices – including two days of joint practices against the Houston Texans – will be more valuable for his front-line players than playing preseason games.

LaFleur kept his top players out of the preseason opener against Houston, played them against Baltimore and called the audible against Oakland on Thursday. There’s almost no chance any important player will play in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs at Lambeau Field.

Whether it was completely intentional or not, LaFleur is part of the trend in which preseason games are deemed of minimal or no importance for a team’s starters. In 2017, LaFleur was the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Rams coach Sean McVay didn’t play his starters last preseason and isn’t playing them this preseason.

Green Bay’s Week 1 opponent is the Chicago Bears. Chicago’s starting players on offense – including unproven quarterback Mitchell Trubisky – have played three preseason snaps. Then again, Green Bay’s Week 2 opponent, the Minnesota Vikings, had quarterback Kirk Cousins on the field for 24 snaps in the first two exhibitions. Green Bay’s Week 3 opponent, the Denver Broncos, had quarterback Joe Flacco on the field for 30 snaps in the first three exhibitions. On the other hand, Green Bay’s Week 4 opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, haven’t played quarterback Carson Wentz.

Thus, Green Bay will roll into Chicago to face a mighty Bears defense with Rodgers and running back Aaron Jones taking zero preseason snaps. The No. 1 offensive line played 15 snaps at Baltimore.

“I think everybody has a different philosophy on that,” LaFleur said of the preseason. “It really goes back to being confident in the work that you get in throughout the entire training camp. I think that’s a big reason why you see a lot of these teams that are scrimmaging multiple teams to get the necessary competitive work yet not put those guys at risk in those games when guys are live and you’re going to the ground. I think that’s something that we’ll look into into the future, as well.”

Even taking extreme measures to stay healthy, the Packers left Canada with three troubling injuries.

Outside linebacker Rashan Gary, inside linebacker Curtis Bolton and receiver Equanimeous St. Brown suffered injuries during the first half against the Raiders.

Gary, this year’s top draft pick, posted on Instagram that he’s “well” and thanked fans for their prayers and concern. Late in the first half, Gary chased down running back James Butler and had his neck bent backward in the collision. Gary stayed on the field for a few minutes before walking off the field and then being carted to the locker room. St. Brown sustained an injured left ankle when his foot got stuck in the turf following a helmet-to-helmet collision. He reportedly will be sidelined for at least the first month of the season. Bolton suffered a knee injury and was on crutches after the game.

The Bolton injury could force general manager Brian Gutekunst’s hand. A position group with limited depth after second-year starter Oren Burks suffered a pectoral injury, the injury to the undrafted Bolton – who seemed poise to replace Burks in the starting lineup – made matters worse. As of now, the only inside linebackers on the depth chart are Blake Martinez, seventh-round rookie Ty Summers and former undrafted free agents James Crawford and Brady Sheldon.

“I’m pretty confident that we’ll find the right solution” at inside linebacker, LaFleur said. He declined to talk about any of the injuries “until we have to” before the Chicago game.

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