Matt LaFleur makes joke about Rashan Gary on Amari Rodgers big kick return

Amari Rodgers had one of the best moments during the Packers’ preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers, but it ended with some friendly-fire courtesy of Rashan Gary.

As the wide receiver ran out of bounds during a 50-yard kickoff return, Gary — the hulking defensive lineman — was waiting for him in his street clothes. After Rodgers was knocked down by the sheer impact of running into a mountain of a man in Gary, Packers coach Matt LaFleur had some jokes to make.

“That was a great moment,” stated LaFleur, during a press conference. “He set up the return, it was well blocked. I think the hardest hit came when he went to the sideline. Rashan Gary knocked him on his butt.”

Luckily for Amari Rodgers, Rashan Gary won’t be on the other side when the games begin to count. The former Clemson star wide receiver is looking to find his role with Green Bay, and running into the brick wall that Gary represents again wouldn’t be ideal for him.

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Jordan Love had a rough performance in the Packer’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers. The former first-round pick out of Utah State was 13/24 but threw just 176 yards and three interceptions. Even though the stats didn’t look great, Matt LaFleur actually spoke highly of Love’s work.

Moreover, Matt LaFleur broke down the performance of backup quarterback Jordan Love in the Packers’ preseason opener in the same press conference. He says the former first rounder’s interceptions really weren’t on him, and both he and the offense just need to clean up a few things.

“I thought there was a lot of good out there. I thought all three interceptions were pretty unfortunate…It is what it is. Certainly I know he’s gonna want a couple of those throws back and certainly some of the reads but it’s never perfect for a quarterback,” said LaFleur. “I think two of those you could totally take off…We just got to clean up everything around him a lot of times. We say all the time about quarterbacks that they’re gonna get too much credit when we do well and they’re gonna get a lot of the blame when we don’t. That’s just the reality of playing that position in this league but I was pleased with Jordan’s performance.”

Love hasn’t had much opportunity during his two NFL seasons. He didn’t appear in the 2020 season and played in just six games with only one start in 2021. That’s the life of a backup quarterback who’s behind a player like Aaron Rodgers. His production in those games weren’t great either with two touchdowns and three interceptions with a 31.2 QBR.

It was the things Love did outside the box score that impressed LaFleur, though. Even though his numbers weren’t efficient, LaFleur said his process in the huddle and at the line were especially so.

“I thought by and large just watching the things like how the operation was smooth, he got us in and out of the huddle extremely crisp and with urgency. I thought he made some off-schedule plays. He showed some nice athleticism in a couple of those runs as well,” LaFleur said. “There was a lot of good things out there from Jordan. Just the poise that he showed in the pocket. That’s something that we’re looking at and, overall, I thought just the process of everything I thought was a pretty good first step for him.”