WEBVTT - #515 Packers Unscripted: Wrap-up remarks 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:14.280 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:18.280 I am Mike Spofford, joined by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz, 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.200 were coming to you here from our studios at lambeau 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.479 Field West. Earlier today, we heard from head coach Matt 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:30.840 Lafleur his season ending press conference, rather traditional for head 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.680 coaches in the middle of the week after the season ends, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.520 that they kind of addressed the media one final time 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.680 to wrap things up, and I'm interested in your thoughts 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:45.920 as well. My initial two takeaways from this are one 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.920 that it's really really hard to get over an ending 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.320 like the Packers had, because even a few days later, 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:57.480 you could still hear some of the regret and bitterness 0:00:57.520 --> 0:01:01.080 and disappointment and everything in Matt Lafleur's voice. So we'll 0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:04.760 talk about that a little bit. But also, he's extremely 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.400 upbeat about the future. I think he used the word 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.800 excited at least five or six times throughout the course 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:14.600 of the half hour press conference. He likes what he's 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.880 built so far, but he's a coach that knows the 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:23.479 process is nowhere near complete. This is still an ongoing evolution, 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:27.200 and the reason why it's so difficult one obviously just 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.880 the result, but two, it's because of as he pointed out, 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:33.920 how special that locker room was, how close that locker 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.560 room was, one of the closest that he's ever coached 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:40.280 at any level of football, and that, as Aaron Rodgers 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:42.080 talked about after the game, that's what made you feel 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.560 like this could be a real special season, because you 0:01:44.600 --> 0:01:47.160 don't always get that. You'll have teams that win Super 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.480 Bowls that aren't as tight as that locker room was, 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.440 and you'll have teams I think, as Mercedes Lewis pointed 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:54.200 out on Monday too, he played on plenty of teams 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.360 that weren't quote unquote winning playoff teams, but had a 0:01:57.400 --> 0:02:01.279 good chemistry. It can be a lick, sir, I feel 0:02:01.360 --> 0:02:03.720 to to help a team get to that next level, 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:08.440 and when it all ends, it is it's just it's 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:12.320 such a sudden train stop. You can't prepare for you 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.040 because you don't think about it. You think about the game, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:18.080 in winning, in what that would mean, and just continuing 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.200 upon that run. So there is a lot to break 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.519 down and digest this week, But as you mentioned in 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:28.320 the second point of your point, they also feel a 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:32.239 genuine excitement and enthusiasm about what is to come based 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.000 on this first season. They were ahead of schedule in 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.560 so many ways, whether it was just the implementation of 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.280 this offense, whether it was being able to incorporate the 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.640 new free agent pieces, or even having a guy like 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.239 Elton Jenkins make a you know, year one contribution. All 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.160 of those things kind of add up to being a 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:51.959 pretty special, you know year that you don't always get 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:54.720 with the first year head coach. But unfortunately the Green 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:57.359 Bay Packers fourteen wins will have to do and they 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.880 set their sights now. Yeah, I think one of the 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:04.960 things that I liked best about his remarks that he 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:11.440 came he came off very very aware of the fact 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:14.200 that there are going to be things that are going 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:17.400 to come up in that you can't prepare for. That 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.200 you're not going to expect that there are going to 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:23.360 be new challenges, new difficulties. Everything that the Packers worked 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.360 through this year, he knows they were blessed with a 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:30.360 fair amount of good fortune from a health standpoint, not 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.680 a lot of major injuries to deal with. Um, it's 0:03:34.680 --> 0:03:38.480 not easy to win so many close games in the NFL. 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.880 As we talked about a lot those those usually tend 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.720 to follow more fifty fifty throughout the course of a season. 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.680 Packers are on the winning end of the vast majority 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:51.640 of close games, So that's going to be something that's 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.680 that's difficult to repeat. He's already what I sensed is 0:03:54.760 --> 0:04:00.520 he's already mentally preparing himself for whatever it is that 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:03.520 comes down the road that the Packers didn't have to 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.040 deal with in twenty nineteen, but it's going to hit 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.440 them at some point, and I and I think he's 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:11.720 he's already mentally aware that that those things are going 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.560 to come eventually. Yeah, and and being able to have 0:04:14.640 --> 0:04:17.240 that experience to to lean back on now. I think 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.719 it's just so critical. It didn't even really dawn on me, 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.600 Mike until he brought it up himself, that this will 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:24.279 be the first time he goes into year two with 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.359 the same offense with the same team since two thousand, 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.599 fifteen sixteen with with Atlanta, you know. And that's a 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:32.320 part of being a climber. It's a part of getting 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:34.960 more opportunities. He went to being an offensive coordinator to 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.640 have an offensive play caller, to finally a head coach 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:39.640 here with the Green Bay Packers, and and everything that 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.200 comes with it understanding Okay, you need to implement your offense. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.599 You need to be the offensive you know, guru in 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:48.000 mind that is going to get this team ready for Sunday. 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:50.520 And it's funny, you said finally though, because it happened 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.719 so quickly. Nineteen boom, there he is as a head coach. 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.120 But yeah, but you know, at thirty four years old, 0:04:57.120 --> 0:04:58.680 this is something that he was thinking about when he 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:01.920 was a quarterback at say Anna Valley Stage. You know, 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.400 someday being able to run his own scheme and run 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.400 his own team, and being the son of a football 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.720 coach and a mom that was a coach. I mean, 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.000 it's just it that is always in you, I believe, 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:14.719 and this was his first chance to really be able 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.920 to understand, Okay, it's not just a position. It's not 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:20.040 just the side of the ball. It's being in special 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.240 teams meetings, it's being in defensive meetings, setting the agenda 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:26.160 for everybody in that building, from the training staff, the 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:30.719 strengthen conditioning department, and also having conversations with Brian good Kunstan, 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:34.640 having conversations with Mark Murphy. This is everything that plays 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.200 into being a head coach at the highest level. And 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.760 those experiences like you can't just go into an interview 0:05:40.800 --> 0:05:43.720 being like, Okay, I know exactly what to expect and 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:46.039 this is how I'm going to approach everything. A lot 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.360 of it is Okay, when you get those curveballs thrown 0:05:48.400 --> 0:05:50.280 at you, how do you adjust your swing to it? 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.640 And I feel like that's what Matt Lafleur. Probably the 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.280 biggest adjustment now that he gets to make now going 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:59.040 into year two is knowing where he needs to devote 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:01.160 his time, how to a cayta his resources and is 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:04.159 He even pointed out leaning on his staff because he's 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:06.400 not always going to have all the answers. It's an 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:09.280 exciting thing for him to be a coach that won 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:12.599 thirteen games, got to a playoff one, a division title, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.359 was in an NFC Championship game. But now it's about 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.400 that next step and everything that he has to do 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.039 to ensure that they do take that step forward in Yeah, well, 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:24.200 he had some interesting thoughts both regarding the offense and 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.400 the defense. I want to get to those in a minute. 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:30.679 But Select Cousin Subs locations are now offering delivery. Whether 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.480 you're ordering catering or your favorite sub, they're delivering right 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.040 to you when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.800 Cousin Subs, we believe in better. Okay, Well, he spent 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.600 the majority of at least in terms of the evaluation 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:48.279 part of it, talking about the offense because that's his 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.760 area of expertise. It was his offense that the Packers 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:56.160 were implementing and transitioning to this year, and I thought 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.040 it was interesting and that he he came right out 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.000 and said the whole up tempo thing, which a lot 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.000 of fans were wondering, like where is it. Why aren't 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.320 the Packers going to a huddle and playing faster and 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:10.080 all that? He said, Hey, that's that's something we didn't 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.480 get to this year. But it sounds like it's a 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.720 pretty high priority for that he wants to have. Now 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:18.800 it's not going to be, you know, the track meet 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:21.240 sixty minutes a game or whatever, but he wants to 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.520 have a segment of the offense that's there for them 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:27.240 to be able to go up tempo, to play faster 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.960 when it's not just a two minute situation, but as 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.640 a change of pace at other times in the game. 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.040 It sounds like that's something he really wants to work on. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.680 With Aaron Rodgers here heading into twenties. Yeah, because I 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.720 wouldn't go and say that, you know, Kyle Shanahan, what 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.280 they were doing was really quote unquote up tempo in 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.559 most cases. But it was just how they broke the huddle, 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.280 how they got to line a scrimmage, Guys being in 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:52.400 the right spots, being disciplined, not having to have any miscommunication, um, 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.840 just honing all that in. Kyle Shanahan's in his third 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:56.960 year now as a head coach that he's been able to, 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:01.000 you know, really work those things out. But for Green Bay, 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.280 as the floor talked about it, it's not always just 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:04.840 one or the other. You don't want to just always 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.400 be up tempo because then you know you're you're you 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:11.000 might you know, speed yourself out of things. You also 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:13.160 don't want to be down to two and three seconds 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:15.160 on a play clock because then that's when the defense 0:08:15.160 --> 0:08:17.720 starts to get dependant's ears back. There's all these things 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:19.880 that you have to account for in the course of 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:22.720 a sixty minute game. And you know, he admitted that's 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.160 something that this offseason, when the coaches break things down 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:26.920 and when the players get back into the building in 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.040 the spring, being able to you know, maybe take that 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.000 next step hasten that process that that is what his 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:38.600 vision is for where these things go. Aaron Rodgers is exceptional, 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:40.560 he said it. I mean the way that he was 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.040 open minded about the way that he approached this new 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.480 offense and in his role in it what was being 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.000 asked to him. But for everybody, it's it's a growing process. 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:51.400 It's the understanding that this was year one and now 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.480 you go into year two. What can you do to 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:58.360 make sure that the offense is, you know, adaptable to 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:02.400 every situation in being able to be multifaceted where you 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.720 really needed to. Yeah, and with with how tough things 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:08.720 ended out in San Francisco in the NFC Championship game, 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:14.640 Matt Lafleur had some really pointed words actually in terms 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:18.400 of questioning just the intensity, the urgency, the effort of 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:21.760 the players. Just felt like he wasn't seeing the same 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.520 team out there in San Francisco that he saw during 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:28.439 the regular season. But interestingly, he also said he also 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.360 looked at that excuse me as something to be self reflective. 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:34.280 That He's like, I need to look at myself and 0:09:34.320 --> 0:09:37.240 find out why my team looked like that. In an 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:42.920 NFC Championship game. Um, so again, I think you know, 0:09:42.960 --> 0:09:46.800 we're we're we're starting to get a feel after this 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:49.040 first season now, and we were seeing it earlier as 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:51.120 well when they hit some bumps in the road with 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:53.400 the game out in Los Angeles and the first trip 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.520 to San Francisco. Matt Lafleur is a really self reflective 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.360 head coach. His first it seems that his first step 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.439 he he evaluates things, but then his first step in 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.720 trying to figure out what needs to change, it's always 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:09.680 looking at himself first, and then he'll start to branch 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.320 out and figure out other things. And I just I 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.280 think that's a quality that uh, you know, maybe it's 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.400 something he's born with, maybe being son of a coach, 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:22.800 whatever whatever it is that has created that in him. 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.400 But not every not every coach has that. Not every 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.880 coach always looks at himself first, or at least publicly 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:30.680 is going to say like, hey, I'm going to look 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.760 at myself first. And I think that's something that that 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:37.599 Packers fans can As tough as that ending was, I 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.840 think Packers fans can have a lot of confidence in, uh, 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.240 in this head coach in terms of getting to the 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.040 bottom of why this happened and trying to make sure 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.000 it doesn't happen again. I'll be honest with you, I 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.480 don't know if Mark Murphy and Bryan god Kuntz and 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.680 Rust Ball everybody, when they sat down and talked with 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.520 him through the head coaching process of trying to make 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:57.280 that higher, if they if they were able to really 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.679 get at the core of the apple there. But I 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:01.319 would argue with you now that we're more than a 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:04.720 year into this thing, that Matt Lafleur's best quality I 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:06.880 think as a coach, and what makes him a guy 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:08.720 that think is going to be successful for many, many 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.480 years in this profession is the fact that he he 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.320 leads by example. He asked of himself before before he 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.080 asked from others. I actually think that's that's not really 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.560 an issue just with the NFL. That's an issue in society. 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:26.080 There's a lot of weak minded people out there, uh, spineless, Uh, 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.240 you know, they just don't have that backbone of you know, billing, 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.880 willing to accept responsibility. They just want to blame other people. 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:38.480 And it happens a lot in industry. Boss's supervisors always 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.120 wanted to talk down to those beneath them rather understanding 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.160 who's who's the people that are making these decisions and 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:47.080 how are people responding to the way of which you're leading. 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.760 That that's critical, And I've said it before on the 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.480 show and I've written it an inbox. It doesn't matter 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.000 how good of an X and o's guy you are, 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.760 or even what you're in a person, communication skills are like, 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:00.000 if you don't have that foundation, it just isn't gonna 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.959 work because everyone's nobody's gonna respect you. And Matt Lafleur 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.640 was very self aware coming into this season that that's 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:08.680 where this has to start, because the fact of the 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:10.720 matter is, Mike, a lot of things went wrong in 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:12.680 two thousand and eight fifteen. For the Packers to have 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.679 the overhaul that they had this past year, they had 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:17.440 to get better. They had to get better with their coaches, 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:18.720 they had to get better with the players, they had 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:20.000 to get better with the scheme, they had to get 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.640 better with the administration. Everybody needed to improve and the 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.240 fact of the matter is they won fourteen games, they 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:29.280 made a playoff Berth and you listen to guys like 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:33.800 Mercedes Lewis, Brian Bulagau, Trumon Williams, Mason Crosby, leaders in 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.160 that locker room that have seen so many different versions 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:40.880 of this Packers team, all appreciative of the tech that 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.600 he took with this roster. That's something that you hang 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.000 your hat on now as you move forward as a 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:47.359 head coach. Yeah, and when you talk about the potential 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.400 obstacles that say the Packers didn't have to deal with 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.080 in twenty nineteen, that may come up in you know, 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:57.680 the most significant injuries the Packers had, I would say, 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:00.800 we're you know, Lane Taylor going down with the iceeps injury, 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.199 but Elton Jenkins was ready as a rookie second on 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:05.679 draft picked to step in and take over and that 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.640 was as as seamless as you could as you could 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.400 ask for. And then Davante Adams missing four games with 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.960 the turf toe injury, and then you know, working his 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.000 way back even when he was back on the field, 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:22.240 he wasn't totally himself yet for a handful of games there. Um, 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:26.280 But you know there almost inevitably after a year like 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.480 this one, they're going to be some more injuries that 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.240 Packers are going to have to deal with. And and 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.080 that's where the roster construction and how much experience do 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:35.079 you have in the backups that are going to step in. 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.960 These are all of the conversations that Matt Lafleur and 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.440 Brian gudakun stand the personnel staff are going to have 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.160 in the off season. Another one I'll look at is, 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.480 you know this two thousand nineteen Packers Matt Lafleur as 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.440 a head coach. They haven't had a losing streak. You know. Now, 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:53.840 that's that says something about again the self reflection and 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:56.040 the leadership and all these other things that we've been 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.640 talking about, because every time the Packers lost a game, 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:02.440 they got it turned back around and and you know, 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:06.200 righted the ship very quickly. But this is the NFL. 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.200 You're probably going to lose a couple of games in 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.800 a row. Here. That's another thing that maybe in is 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.600 something that you know you won't be able to turn 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:16.760 it around quite so fast. And if you lose a 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:18.400 couple of games in a row, then how does the 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.640 locker room react? Then what kind of leadership is needed 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:24.280 to to get things going? These are the kinds of 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.840 things that that are potentially coming down the pike. But 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:29.720 as I as I said before, it seems that Matt 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:32.200 Lafleur is not going to be surprised by anything. He's 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:36.800 he's aware that he didn't face everything in year one 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:39.600 and uh and I think just that awareness is going 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:41.880 to serve him well. Heading into YouTube, there's a lot 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:45.360 to unpack there. Um, what I'll start with is it's 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:47.160 a chicken or the egg, right in terms of the 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.960 two game not having a losing absolutely, it is interesting 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.280 how the locker room responded to every single one of 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.760 those situations and how they played the following week. Right. 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:58.560 What happens when the adversity hits the second time, that's 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.640 something every team has to figure out. Will be interesting 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:02.600 to see if that should happen next year, how the 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.240 Packers will handle that. But the other the two other 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:07.200 things I want to talk about very briefly here. One, 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:09.320 Packers certainly just got to figure out what the heck 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:12.320 happened in California this year, because it's just that that 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.040 that's where it went awry. That was the the three 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.160 long the three longest road trips, the three longest plane 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.200 fights are are are where for whatever reason, things just 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.240 didn't go Yeah, So that that's just that's something I 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:24.880 think that they're going to be able to put a 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:27.080 finger on when they reassess here over the next six 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:29.200 seven weeks, and I'm guessing it'll be something and may 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:30.840 even be asked when we get back to the combine. 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:33.360 The other thing is very small, and I'm sure it's 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:34.800 not gonna be something the floor is gonna want to 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.400 go into, because I know Mike McCarthy certainly didn't. But 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:40.200 I wonder if the Packers have really this is speculation 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:42.520 on my standpoint. I wonder if the Packers really have 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.560 gotten their finger on the pulse of the GPS system 0:15:45.600 --> 0:15:50.440 and understanding workload management. Uh, you know, knowing when to 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.240 push guys and when not to push guys because you're right, 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:56.400 turf toe injuries are gonna happen. Um, you know, we 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.320 we saw more injuries seasonating injuries happened in practice than 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.880 we did in the the football field this year. Uh. 0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.960 The thing that with happened with Raven Green and the ankle, 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.680 you can't really prepare for that. But the soft tissue 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.520 injuries that would be sidelining players for weeks. Uh sometimes 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:15.160 with Casey Hayward some of these guys, it would wipe 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.440 them out a whole season. Those didn't haunt the Packers 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.880 this year, and a lot of that is rest and 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.440 recovery and preparation. But what I want to say to 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:27.320 along those lines, because fans are always asking, they've been 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.920 asking for years, like what is the deal with the injuries? 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.960 And you know this and that and why why do 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.000 the Packers always get struck with all these injuries? It 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.240 seems like the list is longer for Green Bay than 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:42.040 other teams. I'll say this too. Players have to take 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.680 care of their own bodies. There has to be there 0:16:44.680 --> 0:16:50.200 has to be some commitment from within from themselves to 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.720 do what it takes because they can only be given 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.960 so many plans and so many objectives and and this 0:16:56.040 --> 0:16:59.320 and that, and you know, I don't know. I just 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:02.560 wonder a new head coach coming in, a new coaching 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:07.000 staff coming in, you get a greater commitment from the 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:11.639 players to do things on their own when they have 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:15.200 this whole new group of people to impress in order 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:17.320 to get the playing time in order to get in 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:19.359 their careers where they want to go. I'm just saying 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:21.280 I think that's a part of this too. You know, 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.680 he's a great example that as Jire Alexander too. Because 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:25.480 I was talking with Jyre about that this year because 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:28.080 of Truman Williams. Truman Williams is the gold standard for 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.000 preserving your body. I mean, whether or not you're a 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:33.720 pro athlete. I think just is a thirty six, thirty 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:35.640 seven year old human being. You just got to respect 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.359 the way that that he approaches a thing question. And 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.720 Jyre mentioned to me this year when one of our conversations, 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.760 I mean how much he said, like, okay, his rookie year. Yeah, 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.480 we got treumon there. That's cool. It's funny. He's like, 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.320 I'm not really sure how much I really took from 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.199 him in terms of him independently going out trying to 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.880 use him as a resource, but seeing him this year 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:57.040 in his preparation, I mean, Jire started doing yoga this year, 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.879 things that he wasn't doing at least regularly in the 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:03.400 hask and starts all sixteen games, plays at a high 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.399 level all season long. It's those type of investments that 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.680 players have to make. And it's not when you're thirty six, 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.639 it's when you're twenty two or twenty three too. Uh, 0:18:11.720 --> 0:18:15.080 understanding that you get you tear your hamstring, you have 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:18.040 a soft tissue injury that doesn't just heal like where 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:19.800 it's like, Okay, you never have to deal with it again. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.879 That muscle is less now because you tore it the 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:25.359 first time. It's only going to recover to a certain extent. 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:28.159 The more you preserve yourself, the better it's gonna be 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.359 you for the long run. Injuries happen, though, they will happen. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:33.679 I mean, there's certain things that Nick Perry dealt with 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.200 in Green Bay. He just was snake bitten by it. 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.439 He just he there's nothing he could have prepared for 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:40.679 to break his thumb or like, you know, to broken 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.239 I mean, you know, that's that's the stuff. I mean 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.600 when you're talking about when you're talking about things like 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:49.040 broken bones, concussions, those types of injuries, those fall in 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.320 a completely different category than you know, the pulled hamstring, 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:56.320 the groin muscle, the calf muscle, I mean, all all 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.560 of those kinds of things. Those are completely different categories. 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.000 And and yeah, the Packers were a healthy team in 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.440 twenty nineteen, and for the most part they took advantage 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.080 of it. Unfortunately, you know, they wanted to win at 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:09.840 least one more game. Yeah, So getting back to my 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:11.480 original point and all this much like We're going to 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.760 see how the Packers respond to adversity next year with 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:15.560 this locker room scene, if they can keep this up, 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:17.879 and seeing if they can keep that trend because the 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:20.120 outside looking in and nobody ever wants to talk about 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:21.639 because one you don't want to give away any secrets 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:24.640 and two you don't want to jinx yourself. But there 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.160 the Packers were exceedingly healthy this year and it helped 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:29.480 in terms of how this team was built and how 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:32.119 they were able to build throughout the course of the season. Yeah, well, 0:19:32.600 --> 0:19:37.240 we will not most likely here from Matt Lafleur until 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:41.960 the NFL scouting combine, um, so may not have too 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:44.600 much to to unpack between now and then, but we 0:19:44.680 --> 0:19:47.080 shall see. And we are going to hear from general 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.439 manager Brian Gouda Kunst on Friday this week, So on 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:54.199 Friday show we will try to analyze and dissect what 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:56.879