Getty Head coach Matt LaFleur of the Green Bay Packers.
The Green Bay Packers offense is under scrutiny after three consecutive lackluster performances and head coach Matt LaFleur is catching heat for it, including from one of his former QBs.
Green Bay is 2-3 to begin the season, the franchise’s worst five-game start since 2012. Injuries to major contributors have played a role, as has the youngest group of skill position players in the league and a first-year starter under center in Jordan Love.
However, former Packers quarterback Kurt Benkert said flatly on Monday, October 10, that LaFleur could be running an offense more conducive to success in the modern NFL.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions about my opinion / experience with MLF and will be very transparent on my comments of us “butting heads”.
I’ll start by giving my honest opinions about the scheme. It’s outdated, and there is a better way to play offense right now. I’m not going to…
“I’ll start by giving my honest opinions about the scheme. It’s outdated, and there is a better way to play offense right now,” Benkert wrote on X. “I’m not going to go into full detail, but I talk about this stuff all the time on my reviews.”
Former Packers QB Kurt Benkert Details Personality Clash with Matt LaFleur
GettyQuarterback Kurt Benkert, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, scrambles with the ball during an NFL preseason game against the New York Jets in August 2021.
Earlier in a lengthy social media post, Benkert alluded to the popular notion that he and LaFleur “butted heads” during the QB’s time with the organization.
Benkert went on to address the personality dynamics between himself and his former head coach.
Our personalities couldn’t have been more opposite and when you spend countless hours with someone in a meeting room you grow to know them. My personality meshed really well with some of the other coaches, and not so much with his. Those coaches left and I was released soon after. Have you ever had a boss that you don’t vibe with? Same thing, is what it is and people move on.
Add to this, when you’re in a quarterback room, regardless of position on the roster— you’re expected to contribute and speak up — especially a room with Aaron Rodgers. If you think keeping your opinion to yourself was an option — on scheme, play design, matchups, etc. — good luck with that.
So over a year of giving my point of view on how I see the game, offense, mixed in with the fact that I was doing a lot in the gaming/media space while being a player — it was clear that it wasn’t liked so much. So regardless of how well I felt I was playing — it didn’t really matter. At the end of the day, I was a dispensable practice squad player. My perspective in conversation, added in with my projects off the field, weren’t a fit for the head coach.
If you think players only get cut over performance or personal conduct issues, you may have forgotten that sometimes people just have different personalities that don’t fit with the ones in charge. I’m sure some of you have experienced this before and the NFL is no different.
Benkert appeared in just one regular season game with the Packers, which came in 2021. He attempted 2 passes and netted a total of -1 yard, per Pro Football Reference.
Jordan Love Struggling After Hot Start to 2023 Season
GettyQuarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers.
How well Love and LaFleur mesh isn’t public knowledge, though the two will be married in a professional sense for years to come.
Love became the full-time starter in his fourth NFL season after Green Bay traded Rodgers to the New York Jets this spring. The 24-year-old QB got off to a hot start, throwing for 6 touchdowns and zero interceptions over his first two games, in which the Packers averaged 31 points per outing.
He didn’t play particularly well for most of the team’s Week-3 matchup with the New Orleans Saints, but led a fourth-quarter comeback after his team trailed 17-0 to secure a win in Green Bay’s home opener.
The Packers have lost both contests since, including a blowout home defeat at the hands of the NFC North Division-leading Detroit Lions, and have averaged just 17 points per outing over their last three games.
Love has completed just 55.6% of his passes on the year for 1,083 yards, 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, per Pro Football Reference. He threw a pick in the end zone on the Packers’ final drive of the game Monday night to seal a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Green Bay’s offense has also struggled to run the football, ranking 27th in the NFL in total rushing yards through five games (708) and tied for 26th in the league in yards per carry (3.5), per NFL.com.