GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur held his season-ending news conference Tuesday morning at Lambeau Field.
LaFleur met with the media for about 38 minutes. It’s clear that the emotions of the quick playoff ouster at the hands of the Eagles Sunday in Philadelphia still linger.
“We are extremely disappointed,” said LaFleur. “I think you’ve got to learn from every experience, and there’s a lot of lessons along the way. Sometimes, those lessons can be tough.”
“All losses feel the same,” said Packers receiver Jayden Reed on Monday. “You don’t make it all the way. Just the fact that we were a little closer last year, I hurt a little bit. But I think they all hurt the same.”
As the play-caller, LaFleur took the Packers’ late season offensive struggles personally.
“We had some poor performances towards the back half of the season. And that is disappointing,” said LaFleur.
There will be at least one change to the Packers coaching staff. Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, 71, is retiring.
“It’s been a cool ride with him for the last three years,” said LaFleur. “He’s incredibly consistent. What a great man, great mind. He’s had the opportunity to coach some of the best. You talk about (Brett) Favre, (Aaron) Rodgers and then the development of Jordan Love. That’s pretty cool.”
When he met with reporters, LaFleur said he had yet to meet one-on-one with cornerback Jaire Alexander, who hinted on Monday that he might not be back with the Packers next season. Alexander is under contract, so that would require the Packers to cut or trade him.
LaFleur called the comments made Monday by Keisean Nixon “interesting.” Nixon said that he didn’t want to be a special teams return man anymore if he’s CB1.
“Keisean and I have a really good relationship,” said LaFleur. “We have a meeting today to talk about this. I love Key, I do. I love how he competes. I love how he prepares.”
LaFleur said Jordan Love’s next steps are vocal leadership and consistent footwork.