GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers are back home at Lambeau Field Sunday to play the Minnesota Vikings. The Packers are looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
With Dalvin Cook gone, the Vikings rely more than ever on Kirk Cousins and their passing game. Cousins played well in Minnesota’s impressive win over the 49ers Monday night.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was Cousins’ position coach for two years in Washington.
“He’s a guy that I’ve had the utmost respect for,” LaFleur told reporters Wednesday. “I feel like he’s always been severely underrated. I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the game and he’s playing like it.”
After starting the season 0-3, the Vikings have won three of their last four games. Meanwhile, the Packers are sputtering at 2-4.
“When it’s not going right, you lose some games,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love. “We just got to stay true to who we are, stay true to our system, stay true to what we’re doing and have confidence and belief. You got to keep searching for why we’re starting slow, why we’re not putting up as many points, why we’re not finishing off games the way we want to.”
Packers safety Darnell Savage has been placed on injured reserve with a calf injury. He’ll miss at least the next four weeks. Just off the Physically Unable To Perform List with a foot injury, cornerback Eric Stokes was placed on IR with a sore hamstring.
“In Denver I was saying, why me? Why all this?” said Stokes. “But the moment I got back here, it’s time to move forward. It’s time to focus and go ahead and get back to the grind.”
“He is a great man, first and foremost,” said LaFleur. “He’s got a great personality. He’s a happy guy. I know he’s extremely disappointed, and we’re disappointed for him, too. That’s a long road to recovery, and then to get out there and play four snaps, or whatever it was. And then he goes out. It is disappointing.”
Aaron Jones was among the Packers who didn’t practice Wednesday. LaFleur said it was just hamstring soreness and not a setback.
LaFleur added that he hopes Jaire Alexander can play Sunday. Alexander has been dealing with a back injury.
Jordan Love figures to see plenty of blitzes Sunday. Under defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Vikings by far lead the NFL in the percentage of plays that they blitz.
“I haven’t really faced a defense like Minnesota, the way they run it,” said Love. “You’ve got to have a good plan for going into it. You’ve got to have a good week of practice, understanding the plan, understand where you want to go when they do bring those blitzes.”
“They’re not afraid,” said LaFleur. “Sometimes, it’s going to look like a punt rush. You got to have a plan for that and go out there and execute that plan. It does present a lot of challenges.”
The Packers may be mired in a three-game skid, but Love and LaFleur said morale is still good.
“You just got to keep going,” said Love. “Adversity hits all the time. Every year I play football, there’s some type of adversity. It’s always different. You never know what it’s going to be, when it’s going to hit, but it’s all about just keeping going, keep your head down, keep working. And, as a team, it’s all about staying together.”
“Guys are battling,” said LaFleur. “They’re battling. We’ve had a few setbacks here and there, just shuffling a few guys in and out. The bottom line is we got to coach them better, and we got to go out there and execute better. It’s not for a lack of effort.”