The Green Bay Packers suffered a tough loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions on Sunday in a weather-impacted game at Lambeau Field. Packers quarterback Jordan Love posted a rather inefficient stat line, going 23-for-39, throwing for 273 yard with one interception and no touchdowns.
Faced with a question in his postgame press conference about Love’s lackluster performance, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur let his frustrations with the media be known.
“He’s fighting. He’s competing. We know that we’ve gotta take care of the football. But I don’t question anything about what he’s trying to do. We just gotta do it better.”
– Matt LaFleur on Jordan Love’s performance pic.twitter.com/fSOWBpcnbG
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 4, 2024
“Is it a delicate balance with a young quarterback, who makes all the plays that Jordan does, to coach him in a way-” a reporter asked before LaFleur cut in.
“You guys are going to make- like, I understand, it’s really annoying up here though. Like, you know, we’re obviously- he’s fighting. He’s competing. We know that we’ve gotta take care of the football. But I don’t question anything about what he’s trying to do. We just gotta do it better.”
As far as head coach-reporter interactions go, LaFleur’s response was pretty tame. Still, he was palpably upset with the line of questioning. No doubt, having his young quarterback who was hurt coming into the game throw 39 times in the driving rain was not part of his original game plan. And a coach doesn’t want to say anything that might jeopardize the confidence of his starting quarterback.
But the question coming from the reporter was completely valid. There are times when it’s reasonable to ask whether a quarterback should be “reeled in,” and likewise, if they should be allowed to do more.
LaFleur does have a little bit of a history with getting upset at reporters after losing to his division rival. Last season, the Packers’ coach got snarky during his postgame press conference after another loss to the Lions telling a reporter, “That’s a BS question, man.”
Outside of losing to the Lions, LaFleur seems to be more-or-less cordial with the media. Perhaps, however, reporters should be on watch after an NFC North loss.
[Spectrum News 1 via Awful Announcing/X]
