Matt LaFleur sends message to Packers fans following early playoff exit

The season ended far earlier than anybody associated with the Green Bay Packers hoped it would. After going 13-4 in the regular season, winning the NFC North and earning the top seed in the NFC, the Packers fell short in their first playoff game. The San Francisco 49ers came out on top in the Divisional Round, clinching a spot in the NFC title game. Packers coach Matt LaFleur has made it clear, though, that he’s already trying to move forward.

LaFleur hopes that he and the Packers can learn from their loss. He promises that he is committed to getting over the hump in Green Bay.

“You’ve got to keep moving forward because like I told our team, nobody’s feeling sorry for us,” LaFleur said. “So you’ve got to pick yourself up from a tough loss and you’ve got to try to learn from it, whatever nugget you can take away from this, and just keep on marching on. That’s the mentality. That’s the only way at least I know how to go about our business here.

“We’ve got to keep searching for whatever it is to help us get over the hump, because obviously, we haven’t found it yet. And my commitment to this organization, to the players, our coaches, our fans, everybody is we are going to be relentless in that pursuit to get us over the hump.”

This season was LaFleur’s third with the Packers. Green Bay has won 13 games in each of his three years. In 2019, the Packers went 13-3, and lost to the 49ers in the NFC Championship. Last year, they went 13-3 and lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship.

LaFleur knows the Packers have work to do in the offseason

Despite a 39-10 regular season record, the Packers are just 2-3 in the postseason under LaFleur. Now, Green Bay heads into yet another uncertain offseason. The Packers are well over the projected salary cap, which could pose issues with star wide receiver Davante Adams in need of a new deal.

The future of quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also extremely uncertain at this point. Despite two key pieces of business in need of being taken care of, LaFleur is confident that the Packers can find a way to make the money work.

“There’s ways to move money and to make sure that we get the bulk of our key contributors back,” LaFleur said. “Are there absolutely going to be some tough decisions? No doubt about it. But I’m really confident in Russ’ ability and Gutey’s ability and us collectively to figure out a way to do this thing.”

The outcomes of the Rodgers and Adams situations will have major impacts on the Packers. With them, Green Bay will likely be in the Super Bowl hunt again next season. Without them, though, is a completely different story.