It’s mostly positive vibes for the Green Bay Packers right now.
They have won three games in a row, and are getting star running back Josh Jacobs back. Green Bay is preparing to take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday, but something could come back to bite coach Matt LaFleur from last week’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Green Bay Packers HC Matt LaFleur Could Get Fined for Publicly Criticizing Officials
The Packers’ defense was penalized for roughing the passer three times during their win over the Cowboys. After the game, coach Matt LaFleur voiced his displeasure with the inconsistencies of when roughing the passer gets called, especially considering quarterback Jordan Love has yet to receive one in his favor.
“I think just in regards to all that stuff, at the end of the day, you just want it to be called both ways,” LaFleur said. “So, if they’re going to call it one way, it should be called for the other team, as well, and I feel like there’s been a lot of times when Jordan’s taken some close to potential roughing calls, and he’s not getting the calls.”
Matt LaFleur May Be Willing to Fall on the Sword for His Team
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The analysts on The Green Bay Beat discussed how it may be worth it for LaFleur to eat a fine if it gets the officials to call roughing the passer on a more even basis.
“It’s 6-0 on roughing the passer penalties this year,” Bill Huber said.
“It’s the consistency of it versus the big, emotional interaction,” Paul Bretl said. “It’s talking about it pregame. Its’s being in the refs ear every single time. Like hey, you called that on us but not on them, and vice versa. Just the consistency of it, so it’s always front of mind for the referee.”
“I don’t know how much more he’s accomplishing by venting his frustrations publicly, on top of the clips they send to the league,” Matt Schneidman said. “It could just put more public pressure on refs to maybe make some more calls. Maybe that’s the way to go. If that doesn’t change, LaFleur might need to take another step. He just got extended, you got plenty of money. It’s for the better of the team.”
As Schneidman mentioned, the Packers send clips to the league office each week to question or gain clarity on penalties that were or were not called. LaFleur said they also use those clips to teach their players what the NFL is looking for in certain penalties.
“We’ll see what they say,” LaFleur said. “I obviously can’t tell you guys about what they say, but it helps us educate our players and at the end of the day that’s our job. We got to educate them on what they can and cannot do and make sure that we try to coach them up and they got to control themselves in the moment.”
Packers HC Matt LaFleur Facing Potential Punishment From NFL