GREEN BAY – Head Coach Matt LaFleur addressed the media for nearly 40 minutes in his season-ending news conference Tuesday.
Here are five things we learned.
- The way the offense finished the season was the biggest disappointment.
The Packers scored 30-plus points in five straight games beginning in late November, going 4-1 over that stretch to get to 11-4 on the season. Then suddenly the offense lost its mojo and never regained it.
Green Bay scored just 10 points through three-plus quarters at Minnesota, 13 through three quarters against the struggling Bears, and 10 total in the playoff loss at Philadelphia.
Much of the offseason will be focused on what went wrong in those final games and why, because the team that finished fifth in the league in total yards and eighth in points looked like anything but a highly ranked unit by the end.
"More than anything, we were really good when we got explosive plays, and we weren't very good when we didn't get explosive plays," LaFleur said. "If there's something from that it's, if you're not generating those explosive plays, you better be extremely efficient."
Led by Josh Jacobs, the Packers had their best running game of the LaFleur era, but that required changes to some run concepts and blocking schemes to maximize Jacobs' abilities. But whether the way the Packers were running the ball didn't set up the passing game effectively enough, or if the passing game simply wasn't able to do enough on its own, will have to get figured out.
To LaFleur, it was a collective failure through the coaches and players.
"It doesn't feel good when you end like that," LaFleur said. "That's the best way I can put it is just, it felt choppy at the end of the year. And I mean, the results say the same.
"Collectively, we have to be better, and I expect better. We performed at a pretty high level a majority of the season and then took a dive. That's why it feels, I'd say, different than a year ago."
- The new defense evolved and closed strong.
First-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley had to navigate injuries and a sporadic pass rush, but the Packers went from a unit that took the ball away a lot early to one that could stand tall for substantial stretches within games later on.
LaFleur praised the defense's performance in Philly, keeping it a 16-10 game into the fourth quarter despite the offense's turnovers and other shortcomings, and giving the Packers a chance to advance.
"I thought there was an incredible amount of growth, to be honest with you," LaFleur said. "A vision of what we wanted to do and where we went to were kind of two different things.
"I thought we were playing some pretty good football at the end."
The hope was the Packers could generate steady pressure with their four-man front and play a lot of vision-based coverage behind it, but the pass rush was wildly inconsistent. That led to a lot of simulated blitzing and other pressure packages to help out the secondary, which dealt with most of the injuries.
Finding a way to get pressure more steadily, and perhaps more traditionally rather than schematically, will be a point of offseason study. Improvement from within and personnel additions could all help.
"Guys have got to be able to win one-on-ones, and there's certain things you can do structurally to help create some one-on-one opportunities," LaFleur said. "But somebody's gotta win."
- QB Jordan Love will be pushed to make his leadership more vocal.
LaFleur affirmed he believed Love, after two years as the starter, remains an ascending player. He credited him for his ability to avoid sacks – he was taken down just 16 times in 16 starts, including playoffs – and noted two fundamental points of emphasis moving forward.
One will be the consistency of his footwork, which contributes to rhythm and timing in the passing game. The other, which is for the offense as a whole, is to get better in the scramble drill.
Aside from those specifics, LaFleur also emphasized he wants Love's team leadership to progress toward a more vocal mode. That would add to how he already leads by his work habits and presence.
"I think he can really demand a lot because the locker room respects him, and they respect him not only as a person but by the work he puts in," LaFleur said. "He's a grinder. He's one of the guys. I think that's one of his best qualities.
"But when things aren't quite right, I think he can voice that, as well. When guys aren't quite doing what they're supposed to be doing, he's one of the guys to talk to about that. I just think it means more when it comes from your quarterback than it does from me or one of our other coaches."
- QB coach Tom Clements is retiring.
After working under Mike McCarthy for 11 seasons, Clements came out of a brief retirement and returned to the Packers in 2022 after six years away to work under LaFleur for Aaron Rodgers' last season, and to tutor Love.
Clements has now decided to retire permanently from what can only be described as a unique coaching career, having worked with the Packers' last three franchise quarterbacks, starting with Brett Favre in 2006.
"Man, it's been a cool ride with him for the last three years," LaFleur said. "He's incredibly consistent. What a great man, a great mind. Obviously he's had the opportunity to coach some of the best. You talk about Favre, Rodgers and then the development of Jordan Love. I mean, that's pretty cool.
"I know he's meant a lot to this organization – his contributions – and he will definitely be missed. I can't say enough great things about him. I really appreciate him."
LaFleur wouldn't say who his next QB coach would be. Connor Lewis has worked as the assistant QB coach in recent years, while former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion was brought on as an offensive assistant this past season.
- This team's best football remained elusive through the end.
LaFleur lamented he couldn't make Mark Murphy's final season as president/CEO a better one.
"I feel bad that we sent him out like this, you know," he said. "There's nothing more that I wanted to win for him."
Two days after the season-ending defeat, the emotions and bottom-line analysis hadn't changed.
"I still feel the same disappointment that I felt postgame," LaFleur said. "I mean, somebody's going to win, somebody's going to lose … but you just want to go out in those moments and play your best and let the chips fall where they may.
"We have to be a little bit more consistent, especially in those big-time games. Everybody has got to play their best, especially your best players got to play their best in the big games."
