Packers Coach Matt LaFleur Provides Injury Updates After Loss to Browns

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Friday, Green Bay Packers right tackle Zach Tom was conflicted about trying to play through the oblique injury sustained in Week 1.

Tom opted to play. He made it through one snap before he had to be helped off the field during the 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

On the bright side, Tom didn’t make the injury worse by trying to play.

“I wouldn’t say he further reaggravated,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “It’s always hard to simulate what you’re going to face in a game. You’d have to ask him, but I think that the force of the guy that he’s going against, it hurt him. He didn’t feel like he could go.”

Tom’s injury wasn’t the only one on Sunday. Left guard Aaron Banks, who was inactive last week with a groin injury, missed the second half with a different groin injury.

Safety Javon Bullard is in the concussion protocol after a collision with linebacker Quay Walker and defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt is “day to day” with a knee injury.

On Friday, after practicing as limited participation for a third consecutive day, Tom acknowledged the long-term concern after sitting out the Week 2 win vs. Washington.

“I want to be out there, but I also want to be able to play well,” he said.

As it turns out, Tom just wasn’t ready to play. Maybe some full-speed reps would have made the decision easier, but the team had to give him as much time as possible to heal.

When Tom got to the bench, he put his head in his hands in disappointment.

“Yeah, it’s tough,” LaFleur said of the decision. “I would chalk it up to it’s hard to simulate what these guys are going to go against in the game. We did our best in terms of trying to put them through enough and certainly had them going in practice, but still the game’s a different speed.”

LaFleur disagreed with the notion that the team’s medical staff, historically so conservative in putting injured players back on the field, had changed philosophies.

Still, last year, cornerback Jaire Alexander suffered a knee injury late in the game against Jacksonville. A couple weeks later, he tried to play but only lasted about 10 snaps. For most of the rest of the season, Alexander practiced but never felt good enough to get back on the field.

So, does the team need to reconsider its return-to-play protocol after one of its most important players made it through only one snap, which left the team a man down on the line.

“Yeah, I think every situation is a little bit different,” LaFleur said. “I’m confident in our guys. I think they do a great job. They’re thorough. Certainly, the players got say-so in the return to play, as well, in terms of their confidence level. Obviously, first and foremost you have to be cleared medically, and we never want to put a guy out there who could potentially have a setback. I think those guys do a really thorough job.”

When Tom exited, Jordan Morgan stepped in at right tackle – a mostly foreign position to him after filling in at left tackle and left guard throughout training camp and playing right guard as a rookie.

When Banks couldn’t play in the second half, Morgan moved to left guard.

It’s been a challenge for last year’s first-round pick, who gave up one sacks and three pressures and was guilty of a couple penalties as Green Bay’s offensive line was overrun by the Browns’ powerhouse defensive line for the better part of four quarters.

LaFleur agreed that the Packers might be asking too much of Morgan to play here, there and everywhere on a moment’s notice. But that was the way to Green Bay’s best combination of blockers on the field.

“Yeah, I think there’s some merit to that, for sure, especially when you look at just yesterday playing multiple spots in one game,” LaFleur said. “I don’t think that’s easy on anybody, especially a guy who’s still a relatively young player. That’s something we’ve got to certainly look at.”

By the end of the game, quarterback Jordan Love was sacked five times and Josh Jacobs had more yards after contact than he had yards.

“Obviously, going into the game, there was a huge emphasis on not allowing Myles Garrett to wreck the game in terms of just trying to chip him,” LaFleur said. “Typically when we chip, we usually chip and then get out as a checkdown, where we were spending a lot of time on him, and it did not enable some of our checkdowns to get out.”

Garrett, however, had only one sacks. The carnage came from everywhere.

“Those other guys feasted and they had a good day. It’s a credit to them,” LaFleur continued. “I knew that D-line was pretty good, probably underestimated them to some level, the other guys. Obviously, Myles we all know and he’s well-respected across the league. But all those other guys, those interior guys were a problem, running their games. They just had a great jump off the ball.

“So, we’ve got to look at certain things we’re asking our guys to do, and if we’re not having success, then you’ve got to find another avenue as a coach. That’s my job is to put our guys in the best position possible to go out there and compete and have success. And I obviously did not do that.”

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