GREEN BAY, Wisc. — No one here knows what this is going to look like in six months.
That much, to borrow a phrase, is a .
No one knows if the Packers are going to win the Super Bowl after coming so close the last two years, or if Aaron Rodgers is going to maintain his MVP level as he turns 38, or if Jordan Love’s development will accelerate, or if the keeping core that Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur have built intact will be feasible after the 2021 season. All of that will play out over 17 games and, everyone here hopes, a few more after that.
But LaFleur knows this, after all the noise of this week: He wants to keep coaching Rodgers. And he doesn’t see that changing any time soon.
“I mean, the guy is, in my eyes, the greatest to ever do it,” LaFleur said, from a quiet corner of Lambeau Field late on Thursday night. “So yeah, why wouldn’t you want to? And I think he’s still got a lot left in the tank. I see it every day. He has so much fun out there, too, just competing. The ball’s still jumping out of his hand so damn effortlessly. So yeah, if he were to have retired, I would’ve put it in the same category as how I felt growing up in Michigan …”
LaFleur then pauses for a second, recalling what the summer of 1999 was like.
“I didn’t really grow up a huge professional football fan, but it was fun watching the Detroit Lions and Barry Sanders,” he continues. “When he walked away, that was heartbreaking. I know, from my perspective, it just wouldn’t be good for the game of football. And I do believe——there’s a lot of history here, and a lot that he loves about this place. And hopefully we can continue to work and come together and fix whatever issues there might be.
“I’ve been a lot of different places in this league, so it’s helped me maybe have a little more perspective in terms of what other things are out there. I just hope we can all come together, learn from this whole experience and continue to grow together.”
LaFleur is a 41-year-old head coach with a 26–6 record who’s been to two NFC title games in as many years in charge. He’s also a guy—like he said—that has seen the other side. He was Robert Griffin III’s position coach in Washington when things came undone there, and play-caller in Tennessee as the Titans did all they could to try and get Marcus Mariota right, the year before Ryan Tannehill came in and wrested the job from the ex-second overall pick.
All that is to say, LaFleur knows what he’s got in Rodgers. Clearly, he doesn’t want it to end. And as such, he also has to know how much is on the line in Green Bay this year.
As I write this, I’m in Detroit, at my seventh camp, and it’s awesome being back out again, and seeing people face-to-face (if from a few feet away). And so we’ve got plenty to get to in the column. This week, we’ll …
• Dive into the Colts’ situation, with the looming fear Carson Wentz will be out a while.
• Examine the Bears’ quarterbacks, and how Andy Dalton and Justin Fields got to Chicago.
• Look at Kirk Cousins and the Vikings, and Mike Zimmer looking for a little more from 8.
But we’re starting with the story of the week.
