Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur wrapped up the 2023 season during a 30-minute press conference on Monday from inside Lambeau Field. The Packers finished 9-8, made the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, beat the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium but came up just short of upsetting the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium.
Here are the highlights from LaFleur’s season-ending appearance:
— LaFleur said he was “so proud” of his team for holding on and battling. Team improved greatly from start to end of the year.
— Felt like the Packers “outplayed” the 49ers for the “majority” of the game on Saturday night. Didn’t make the critical plays.
— On the future and improving: “Just because we got to a certain spot, doesn’t mean that’s guaranteed moving forward. The expectation is when they come back on April 15, they’re better than the team that left today.” Said coaches are meeting with players to highlight one or two things to work on in the early phase of the offseason.
— LaFleur hasn’t met with coaches, still in the evaluation phase of the season wrap up. Expecting to meet with coordinators and position coaches starting Monday.
— Why did the Packers improve? “We were committed to our process for the full season.” Fighting through tough times and sticking together helped the growth.
— On heightened expectations: “Just understand, the expectations going into this (past) season are not going to be the same expectations going into next season, and they’ve earned that. With that, you better put in the work, nothing is guaranteed.”
— LaFleur said the Packers “have a plan in place” to help Christian Watson fix his recurring hamstring injuries. “That’s something we need to figure out because he’s an impact player…we’re better when he’s on the grass.”
— On returning assistants: “Haven’t even thought about that.”
— On Tom Rinaldi’s FOX report on Anders Carlson: “Extremely disappointed” in how it was portrayed. Has talked to Carlson about it. Said he made a joke and called it a “learning experience” for himself.
— LaFleur said the Packers would consider adding competition at kicker but the team wants competition at all positions.
— On Jordan Love: “Every situation he’s been in, he’s learned from it.” Said Love forced the pass on the final drive. “There was nothing there, and sometimes the best play was a throwaway.”
— LaFleur said he thought there were “10 plays” that could have changed the outcome of the game. We here at Packers Wire identified 15.
— LaFleur on Love: “He had a hell of a year.” Praised Love’s growth as a “commander” of the offense.
— LaFleur on Jon Runyan Jr.: “He’s been a very valuable member of our football team these past few years.” Doesn’t know what will happen with his future. Runyan is a free agent.
— LaFleur said he’ll “go through the process” at his own pace in terms of deciding his coaching staff moving forward.
— On Jaire Alexander’s response after his suspension: “I thought he did an outstanding job.” Communication improved between the two after. “I love how he responded. That’s life. You have two choices. You can go in the tank or you can learn and grow and be better for it.”
— LaFleur wouldn’t rule out giving up playcalling if he thought it would improve the team. Has a lot of confidence in Adam Stenavich. Open to anything.
— On Tom Clements returning: Wants him to return…still determining if Clements wants to come back for another year. “I’m hopeful.” Highly complimentary of what Clements brought to the team over the last few seasons.
— On Aaron Jones entering age-30 season: “Tough” to evaluate aging running backs, but the “product looked pretty good to me.” Jones finished with five straight 100-yard rushing game. Mentioned impact on offense, team and locker room.
— Understands expectations are going to go up. “I’d be disappointed if we didn’t improve.”
— Mentioned once again that he feels like the loss in Pittsburgh was the season’s big turning point.
— On David Bakhtiari: Possible he’s the left tackle in 2024. “He’s a hell of a player and he a big-time injury. We’ll evaluate that, get more information, talk to Dave, and some of those decisions will be made in the near future.”
— On late-game scenarios: “That’s an area we need to improve on, those end-of-game situations. Jordan and I have talked about that, what we’re calling, what we’re asking guys to do.” Said he’s seen growth, and he thinks late-game is an area where the Packers could improve with more time on task in 2024.
— LaFleur said he believes there is no long-term concern over A.J. Dillon’s stinger injury in his neck. Dillon’s value as a runner magnified at the end of the year. “I told him, I’d love to have him back here.”
— LaFleur said Brian Gutekunst and the front office “hit the jackpot” on the last few draft classes. “Getting guys who love football, love the grind.” Loved seeing the growth of the young players over the course of the year.
— Any worry about a fracturing locker room during the season: “There were some trying moments, no doubt about it, but I think that’s true of every season…what you don’t want is for the world to see some of the cracks.” Said he wants business kept in-house. Wants business kept in-house better moving forward, but everyone stuck together.
— On special teams: Wants a winning performance each and every game. Margins are so thin on the special teams rankings (Gosselin). “Finding ways to be a little more consistent.” Loves the culture of the special teams. “I think we’re tough, we’re competitive.” Thinks they can be better moving forward.
LIVE: Head Coach Matt LaFleur meets with the media on Monday. 🎙️ https://t.co/psD1N6TbRp
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 22, 2024
