GREEN BAY – Of the various emotions Packers players expressed as they cleaned out their lockers Monday – from motivation and hunger heading into the offseason, to anticipation for the future, to gratitude for their teammates and opportunities – one was more palpable than all the others.
Profound disappointment.
"Well, we certainly didn't win anything," tight end Tucker Kraft said matter of factly, less than 24 hours after the 22-10 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Wild Card playoff in Philadelphia ended Green Bay's season.
"The whole last few games we played, you could kind of feel what was brewing for us."
The postseason defeat capped a three-game losing streak that saw the offense hit the skids, the defense hang tough but lose its discipline at times, and the special teams stumble into game-changing mistakes.
An 11-4 record a few weeks ago that felt loaded with promise didn't mean much as the Packers sunk to the lowest postseason seed and bowed out as an also-ran.
Kraft summed up the frustration best.
"Couldn't finish," he said. "That's what I think of this team. We're all sitting in here, in this locker room with frowns on our faces. People packing their (stuff), ready to go home. People talking about the offseason, vacations. That's just a bunch a crock of (stuff), man. We should be getting ready to play the next game in the postseason."
They aren't playing another game because they were never able to beat one of the top three teams in the NFC, despite six tries against the Eagles, Lions and Vikings.
A win or two against them in the regular season might've changed the Packers' postseason position. Or exorcising such a demon Sunday would've not only continued the season but validated the effort expended to try to reach another level the Packers believed was out there for them.
Players expressed they don't feel that far away from those top teams. Rookie safety Evan Williams said "we're right there," while veteran corner Keisean Nixon described the gap as "small as hell."
But in the same breath, 0-6 against the NFC's elite is a reality they know they can't ignore.
"Shoot, you've got to beat 'em," rookie safety Javon Bullard said. "Good teams beat good teams. You can't consider yourself to be one of those elite teams if you haven't beat 'em. You know what I mean?
"I feel like we're a good team in this league, and our record shows we're a good team in this league. But to be an elite team, you have to beat an elite team, and we ain't do that."
Added Nixon: "The big teams in the big games, we gotta win. We just didn't win the big games."
And now this specific group is out of chances. Roster turnover is the norm in the NFL, so the players acknowledge this team as currently constructed won't play together again.
Relationships matter in this business, and relationships foster culture, but within the walls of any given team, change is constant.
"There's a lot of special people in this locker room, a lot of special people," Williams said. "It's my first year, but it felt like there's just a lot of love for each other, a lot of appreciation for just the sacrifice that everybody has put into getting to this point. Just the love and the culture that we developed, it's tough to let go for sure."
Like any team, the Packers have a long list of pending free agents, while veteran acquisitions and draft prospects will be headed to Green Bay looking to make their own mark.
It's always difficult to process, "knowing the locker room won't be the same anymore," receiver Jayden Reed said. "That's the hardest part, chasing a goal as a team and not accomplishing it."
Two years into a major transition at franchise quarterback has brought an influx of young, developing talent along with it. This past year included a shift in defensive approach that also proved successful.
Altogether, the changes produced two postseason appearances, but this team wanted more than a 1-2 playoff record to show for it.
As one of the Packers' maturing stars, Kraft emphasized his offseason will cover a lot of ground. He'll be, as usual, training to improve and stay healthy, hopefully putting behind him for good the torn pectoral that cost him last offseason. (Elsewhere in the health department, Reed said he wouldn't need surgery on the shoulder he injured in Philadelphia, and Bullard expects to have a procedure on the ankle injury that sidelined him in December.)
But Kraft also stressed he'll be digging deeper to bring more leadership to the table. As he verbalized his discontent with the season's conclusion, he wasn't calling anybody out for a lack of leadership, only looking inward to see what else he could provide.
At the same time, he was perhaps sending a message to other young players like him that their influence in the locker room can grow if they want it to, and if they go about it the right way. They'll be the veterans everyone else is looking to soon enough.
"As a team, we need to wake up," Kraft said, Sunday's loss still plenty raw. "Everyone talks about how we're not OK with just making the playoffs, but we have yet to walk the walk.
"I feel like I have a lot to offer in that (leadership) aspect. This isn't the end, not at all. This is just the beginning of a long road to next year already."
