Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur has wrapped up his post-season evaluation with his staff of assistants, giving them all a three week break. The group will re-convene on February 13 to begin laying out their off-season plans for 2023. As he indicated at his end of year press conference following the season ending loss to Detroit to cap an 8-9, non-playoff campaign, LaFleur wasn’t planning on any changes to his staff. With no announcement coming before cutting the staff loose, it appears all of his assistants, Defensive Coordinator Joe Barry included, will come back this year. The Packers defense finished 17th in total yards allowed per game, 15th in scoring defense but 28th in the NFL in yards per play. Barry came under a lot of criticism as the season went along because his unit didn’t hold up to pre-season expectations especially with a total of seven first round picks in the starting lineup. Consistency was elusive for sure, but there were flashes of good play, especially the game plan that was carried out against the Minnesota Vikings in the rematch at Lambeau Field on January 2.
There still could be some changes however as Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia was one of nearly a dozen candidates interviewed for the Head Coaching vacancy in Indianapolis. Secondary coach and passing game coordinator Jerry Gray’s contract is also expiring and while the players would love to see “OG” return, he apparently has had feelers with both the Bears and Falcons so far this off-season.
More post-season honors for a couple of Packer players were announced on Monday as the Pro Football Writers Association of America released it’s all NFL and All-Conference Teams. Keisean Nixon was named All NFL as the top kick returner. He became just the third Packer in history to lead the league in kickoff return average, piling up over 1000 yards with one runback touchdown in basically half a season after taking over the job. Nixon was also named first team All-Pro as the kick returner. Jaire Alexander was also the PFW choice as a starting cornerback on the All-NFC squad.
Ian Rapaport of the NFL Network appeared on the Pat McAfee podcast on Monday and offered his two cents on the Aaron Rodgers off-season drama. With two years left on a three year, 150 million dollar contract signed last season, Rapaport believes it’s still possible the Packers might move on from Rodgers after 18 years. He said if the team believes Jordan Love is indeed ready to become a starting quarterback, and if the right package was offered, the Packers might seriously consider dealing Rodgers this off-season. The four time MVP is taking some time before letting the Packers know if he wants to come back for a franchise record extending 19th season. He told the McAfee show a week ago he wasn’t interested in “a rebuild” and hoped the Packers would retain several key veteran players like Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis.
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