As Packers search for more pass rush consistency, who has interviewed for DL coach role?

Paul Bretl | 1/22/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers on the search for a new defensive line coach and have reportedly had multiple candidates in for interviews to fill that role as they look to get more production out of their pass rush in 2025.

“Sometimes that’s just the way the NFL season goes,” said Brian Gutekunst. “I think, again, there was some transition to a new scheme, but I think we didn’t grow into that consistent front like we had hoped, but there were times that we showed it, so I know it’s capable. I think we’ve got the right guys. They’re workers in there, I think they’re all passionate about the game, they’re unselfish team guys so I expect us to get better there.”

Following the end of the Packers’ 2024 season, the team announced that they were moving on from Jason Rebrovich after an inconsistent season from the pass rush unit. Rebrovich joined the Packers in 2022 as their outside linebackers coach while in a 3-4 scheme under then defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

As the team transitioned to Jeff Hafley in 2024, Rebrovich was one of two defensive position coaches, along with defensive backs coach Ryan Downard, who remained on the coaching staff despite the team moving on from Barry. Now in a 4-3 defense, Rebrovich became the defensive line coach.

Throughout the season, the Packers’ inconsistency when it came to pressuring the quarterback with just a four-man rush was a regular hurdle that the defense had to overcome. Particularly in games against the NFC’s best–Detroit, Minnesota, and Philadelphia–the lack of pressure on the quarterback was a lot for the defense to overcome.

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In the most recent matchups against these teams, Jalen Hurts was pressured on 33% of his dropbacks, according to PFF’s metrics. Sam Darnold, meanwhile, was pressured on only 31% of his dropbacks, and Jared Goff 28% of his.

For some context around those figures, Justin Herbert was pressured on 33.8% of his dropbacks for the entire NFL season and that ranked 25th out of 42 quarterbacks. A pressure rate of 31% ranked 32nd and a 28% pressure rate ranked 38th.

Darnold and Goff in particular, would pick a part the Green Bay defense with that time in the pocket. Darnold was 26-of-30 passing for 315 yards with three scores. Goff would 26-for-30 as well, for 215 passing yards when kept clean with one touchdown and one interception.

“I would say in those known passing situations, get back on track, third and medium plus, guys got to be able to win one on ones and there’s certain things you can do structurally to help create some one-on-one opportunities for our guys,” Matt LaFleur said. Typically, if you put a linebacker on the ball and you space it out so that each lineman is covered, you’re going to get a 5-0, and you’ll have five one-on-ones, but somebody’s gotta win.”

Overall, the Packers defense would finish top-10 in sacks and their pressure numbers ranked around the middle of the NFL. However, it’s now those pressures were generated that illustrated the issue at hand. Oftentimes, pressures weren’t created by the four-man front winning their matchups. Rather it was Hafley drawing up blitzes or simulated pressures to throw some eye-candy at the offensive line that helped create that disruption.

When it came to the defensive front winning its one-on-one matchups, the Packers ranked 26th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric.

The trickle-down effect of Hafley have to help bolster a lack-luster pass-rush was that for much of the season, we didn’t really even see the true version of Hafley’s defensive scheme in Green Bay. In one respect, it’s a credit to Hafley for his willingness and ability to adapt and adjust on the fly, while still orchestrating a top 10 defensive unit in scoring. On the other hand, this also speaks to the lack of impact plays from the front.

“I envisioned rushing four and playing three deep/four under a heck of a lot more and we ended up doing a lot of simulated blitzes and different pressures and playing a bunch of cover-2,” said LaFleur.

“But I think, again, you always evolve throughout the course of the season, through the offseason, but that was the foundation, I would say, of the defense. But I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting. I thought we were playing some pretty good football at the end.”

While the pass rush faltered, the defensive front did make massive strides against the run. After years of struggling to limit opponents on the ground, the Packers ranked top-five in yards per rush allowed this season.

However, in order for this Packers’ defense to take another step forward in 2025, the pass rush has to improve, specifically, the four man front has to win more regularly. For one, whether it be salary cap dollars or draft capital, the Packers have invested heavily into that position group and would like to see the on-field results of that.

But in addition to that, when the four-man front is getting home, every other defender benefits from it, and their job becomes much easier. Conversely, when there is time in the pocket for the quarterback, the job of the second and third-level defenders becomes exponentially more difficult.

As of Wednesday morning, here is who the Packers have reportedly interviewed for their defensive line opening as they look to get more juice out of this group in 2025.

Kacy Rodgers

Rodgers has been the Buccaneers run game coordinator and defensive line coach since the 2022 season. Before that, he was the Bucs’ defensive line coach from 2019-2021 and has defensive coordinator experience as well, holding that title with the New York Jets from 2015-2018.

Throughout Rodgers’ tenure with the Bucs, the Tampa Bay defense has found success both against the run and getting after the quarterback. In this most recent 2024 season, the Bucs ranked ninth in pressure rate and 11th in yards per rush, but were particularly dominant down the stretch against the run, holding their final nine opponents to under 4.0 yards per carry.

In 2023, the Bucs were seventh in yards per rush allowed. In 2021, Tampa Bay was second in quarterback pressure rate, seventh in sacks, and second in hits. In 2020, the Bucs were again extremely disruptive in the trenches, finishing fourth in sacks, third in pressure rate and third in hits. Along with winning the Super Bowl that year, Rodgers would win the John Teerlinck Defensive Line Coach of the Year award.

In 2019, the Bucs’ had the top run defense in football in both yards per carry and total rushing yards per game surrendered.

“Kacy Rodgers was really the driving force behind us being able to have so much success early in our pro careers, and a big reason why some of us were able to have sustained success in the NFL,” former NFL defensive lineman Chris Canty said.

“He taught us offensive line protections, he taught us formations, he taught us basic offensive systems. So being able to learn the game from that perspective, learning how to break down the tape – that’s really what allowed us to get our football IQ caught up to our physical abilities.”

Aaron Whitecotton

Whitecotton had been the New York Jets defensive line coach for the previous four seasons under then head coach Robert Saleh. Given Saleh’s relationship with Matt LaFleur, one can assume that this interview was a recommendation from Saleh, who obviously knows Whitecotton well.

During the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the Jets’ defensive front was one of the more disruptive units in football. In 2023, that unit ranked fourth in pressure rate and seventh in sacks. The year prior, in 2022, New York ranked third in pressure rate and again was seventh in sacks. Quinnen Williams was also a first-team All-Pro that season as well.

“There are things on that play-by-play grade sheet that aren’t necessarily big, fancy, flashy stats, but are they helping our team win? Boom,” said Whitecotton recently. “That’s a factor. It’s not a hit, it’s not a hurry, it’s not a sack fumble. But if we didn’t get this done, then this result wouldn’t have happened. So that’s another thing that I take into account with that. It’s are the guys being a consistent factor?”

In this most recent 2024 season, once Saleh was fired, the Jets’ defense as a whole took a step back. However, 2023 first-round pick Will McDonald continued to progress under Whitecotton, with his pass-rush production taking a big step forward. On the Packers’ side of things, that progression from Lukas Van Ness in his second season was a key element that was missing in 2024.

Eric Washington

Washington was most recently the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator during the 2024 season, but his coaching background is rooted in the defensive line. From 2020-2023, Washington held various coaching roles along the Buffalo Bills defensive line.

The Bears defense this past season was one of the better units at getting after the quarterback. They finished the regular season seventh in pressure rate, although they were 16th in sacks. However, while finishing the play is obviously important, there is something to be said for the impact steady pressure can have on a quarterback.

In Washington’s final season with the Bills, Buffalo was sixth in pressure, fourth in sacks, and 10th in tackles for loss. Throughout his tenure with Buffalo, the Bills often boasted one of the more disruptive defensive fronts in football.

Washington’s time as the defensive coordinator with the Bears was his second stint in that role. Before joining the Bills, he was the Panthers’ defensive coordinator for two seasons.

“He is a great communicator with elite leadership skills and he will enhance our current defensive staff,” Former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “His track record speaks for itself with coordinator experience as well as expertise in the area of defensive line.”

One other name I’ll put out there as perhaps an under-the-radar option is Vince Oghobaase, who was the Packers’ assistant defensive line coach this past season. Oghobaase previously coached with Jeff Hafley at Boston College as the team’s defensive line coach.

Under Oghobaase at Boston college, defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku was a second-team All-ACC member in 2022, with defensive tackle Chibueze Onwuka earning Honorable Mention honors that same season. In 2021, Marcus Valdez was also an All-ACC Honorable Mention.

“I had the opportunity to work with Vince in San Francisco and his knowledge of the game, energy and commitment to the players jumped out to me,” said Hafley when Oghobaase joined his staff in 2020. “At Ohio State, he trained under one of the best defensive line coaches in all of football in Larry Johnson and he gained excellent experience the last two seasons at the defensive line coach at UCLA.”

There are no reports at this time that suggest the Packers are considering or even if they will interview Oghobaase for the role.

Can more QB movement add a different element to Packers’ passing game?

Paul Bretl | 1/21/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — As Matt LaFleur and the Packers’ coaching staff dissects the offense this offseason in an effort to continue leveraging what went well and to correct what went wrong–particularly down the stretch–one potential area of opportunity for this unit lies with Jordan Love and getting him on the move more often.

Compared to the rest of the NFL, Love ranked 30th in rush attempts this season, according to PFF, out of 45 eligible quarterbacks. Perhaps not coincidentally, three of the top four quarterbacks in rush attempts this season–Jalen Hurts, Jayden Daniels, and Josh Allen–are all playing on Championship weekend.

Love dealing with injuries during the first half of the season didn’t help his mobility and even hindered what he could do in the pocket and from under center. But even as we saw during the second half of the year, there is an opportunity for the Packers to add another dimension to their offense.

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“Every game’s a little bit different,” said Matt LaFleur on more quarterback movement. “It depends who you’re playing again in terms of how wide are the edges. I don’t want to say too much for all our opposition out there, but there’s some looks that I absolutely do not like to run keepers into just because a play-caller, to me, everything is about probability of a play working.

“Obviously, if you get the right look, the probability of that play working is going to be exponentially higher than if you get a bad look. The way some teams play with a lot of these shell looks, they’re not always great.”

Now, none of this is to say that Love should all of a sudden be carrying the ball 7-10 times per game or that he should be utilized in the same fashion as Hurts, Allen, or Daniels. Love’s best ability is his arm and talent as a passer, which is what LaFleur should want to leverage, but the movement element at the quarterback position can help open up opportunities through the air for Love to then exploit.

One of the stressors that comes for a defense when there is the threat of the quarterback getting outside of the pocket is that it gives the offense a numbers advantage. If the defense is defending against the pass, the offense has the advantage up front on a running play. If the defense brings a defender closer to the line of scrimmage to help out against the run, now the offense has the numbers advantage on the back end. If anything, that can tip the defense’s hand to a degree.

All it takes at the NFL level is a split-second of hesitation for a running lane to take shape or a passing window to open and by introducing quarterback movement to the offense, there’s now more for a defense to account for. Who has the ball–the quarterback or the running back? Is it a run or is it a pass? With the defense forced to defend the entire field, this can stress them horizontally, creating space for an offense to attack.

There is also something to be said for getting the quarterback on the move and outside of the pocket. For one, this can open throwing lanes and change the dynamic of the defense’s coverage responsibilities, with the play flowing to one side of the field versus the quarterback being static in the middle. This can also create extra time for longer developing routes to unfold.

“I think so,” said Jordan Love when asked about more quarterback movement, “especially when we run the ball the way we do, I think that’s a good counter to play off some of that stuff and play off some of the run game. Like I said before, I think we didn’t do as much of that stuff when I got back just because of the injury and movement, things like that, but I definitely think there’s an area we can dial some more of that stuff up. We have some good plays in; it’s just a matter of having the right time to dial those things up.”

The introduction of more quarterback movement into the Packers’ offense wouldn’t be done to change Love’s game and make him something he’s not, and no team is looking to take the ball out of Josh Jacobs’ hands. However, that element could help enhance the Packers’ passing game for the reasons mentioned, and if anything, gives the defense something else to prepare for.

Quite a few of the more successful offenses out there have quarterback movement paired with their passing game, and that component–the marrying of those two elements–is what can truly make things challenging for a defense with it becoming difficult to decipher what’s coming. And, generally speaking, the marrying of the run and the pass is one of the core principles of the LaFleur offense.

During the Packers’ final three games of the season, the offense grew a bit stale. The passing game, in particular, was disjointed out and out of sync. Getting Love on the move a few times per game is in no way a cure-all for that, but it could be another tool in this offense’s tool belt and it then becomes something else that defenses have to account for.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of time to take a deep dive into how are other teams running some of these plays and how are they being effective,” LaFleur said.

Brandon McManus provides stability at kicker; Packers would like the free agent back

Paul Bretl | 1/20/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — There was no GM-speak from Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst when asked about the future of kicker Brandon McManus, who is a free agent this offseason. Instead, he was straight to the point when asked if the team would like McManus back for next season.

“We would,” said Gutekunst in response. “Had a good conversation with him before he left and obviously, and you guys know this, how he solidified that journey we were going on.”

The Packers signed McManus in late-October and he suited up immediately that week to face the Houston Texans in Week 7 at Lambeau Field, a game that ended with McManus putting a game-winning kick through the uprights, followed by a Lambeau Leap.

McManus finished the season making all 31 of his extra point attempts, and he was 21-for-23 on field goal attempts, including going 6-for-7 from 40-plus yards. Among qualified kickers this season who had at least nine field goal attempts, McManus’ 91.3% hit-rate was the eighth-best mark in football. He was also 1-of-14 kickers to make all of his extra point attempts.

“Obviously he’s a veteran guy,” Gutekunst added. “I think the thing that was so neat about being around him is not only his confidence but his ability to adjust no matter where we were. Really our specialists group with Matt (Orzech) and Daniel (Whelan) and if we were able to get Brandon back, I think certainly that would make me feel very, very, very good about that group.”

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That ‘journey’ that Gutekunst referred to was the Packers’ search for a reliable kicker. Prior to McManus joining the team, the Packers had six different kickers on the roster in some capacity since January of 2024. While the Packers turned over just about every rock that they could in search of an answer at the kicker position, the results they were looking for were nowhere to be found until McManus arrived.

Looking at McManus’ career kicking numbers, those figures probably aren’t going to leap off the page as he’s made 82.6% of his total attempts. However, where he’s thrived is one those kicks you expect your kicker to make. On field goal attempts from under 50 yards, McManus has made 91.2% of his career attempts.

He also has big game experience as well. During the Denver Broncos 2015 playoff run to a Super Bowl, McManus was a part of that team and went 10-for-10 on field goal attempts in the postseason.

There’s a confidence that this Packers team has in him when he’s on the field. So much so that, at one point, LaFleur mentioned not even paying much attention anymore to the field goal attempts, knowing that they would be made.

“You can definitely feel it,” said McManus of the confidence the team has in him. “The coaches, too. They have to put me in that situation to attempt it, and obviously the players are comfortable with me doing that, too. A coach might not put me out there if he knows the players don’t have faith in me. Each and every day I’m out there at practice, I’m there to prove myself to them. Consistency is key in this league and you don’t have a job long if you’re not consistent. I just go at it every day to improve my consistency.”

Having been in the NFL since 2014, there probably aren’t many who were better prepared than McManus to come in off the street midseason and be asked to make a game-winner a few days later, as he did against Houston. However, while he did everything he could to stay ready while he was unsigned, there is still a learning curve that comes for the entire field goal operation when a new kicker arrives.

One thing we’ve learned about McManus is that he’s very particular in how he wants the ball placed. That not only includes which way the laces are facing but also the tilt of the ball, and both of those aspects can change based on where on the field the field goal attempt is coming from. And then there is the timing component to with Whelan as the holder that factors in as well.

But because of the experience McManus had under his belt before joining Green Bay, he knew exactly how he wanted things done. This then helped make things easier for Whelan and long-snapper Matt Orzech since there was no grey area in how they went about their jobs. The two knew exactly what was needed and what McManus wanted. From there, it was just all about repetition and getting comfortable as a unit.

“It’s been great from the beginning,” said McManus of the field goal operation. “They just had to learn me. Matt’s job doesn’t necessarily change, but certainly Danny’s does. But they’ve both been phenomenal, understanding what I like. It’s not the most favorable conditions here, so learning the winds and where the ball is leaning and where the laces need to be pointed because I’m trying to hit that back seam of the ball so it holds that line to fight the winds, stuff like that, he’s been great learning that.”

The Packers will enter the 2025 offseason in good salary cap shape, with over $40 million in available cap space, which ranks in the top half of the NFL. For what it’s worth, the contract that McManus had signed with Washington earlier this offseason was for $3.6 million. By average annual value, that would rank right around the middle of the NFL compared to other kickers.

Replacing Mason Crosby has proven to be quite a challenge for the Packers, especailly as they tried to go with younger options at a position that often takes time for players to hit their stride. But the experienced McManus provided that stabilizing force and better aligns with where this Packers team is right now, which is ready to compete for championships rather than willing to endure the growing pains that comes with inexperience.

A reunion this offseason between the Packers and McManus would seem inevitable. I mean, Gutekunst told us exactly what the team’s intentions are.

“When I got the call to come here to Green Bay, I was super excited,” McManus said. “It’s been 10 years since I’ve been back in the playoffs so I would love to help with some unfinished business here with this team and whatever happens after that, I’m excited for the next chapter. It’s been great. My wife and kids enjoyed coming up here and experiencing it. I keep saying how nostalgic this city is and this area is, so it’s been awesome being part of it.”

Uncertainty ahead for Jaire Alexander and Packers entering 2025 offseason

Paul Bretl | 1/18/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — As the Packers enter the 2025 NFL offseason, there are some unknowns around what the future holds for former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander in regards to his status with the team.

“I think we’ll work through that,” said GM Brian Gutekunst on Thursday. “Sure we can. I know it’s been really, really frustrating for not only him as a player, but us as a club. Just when you have a player, who’s done what he’s done for us in the past, and then not being able to get him out on the field consistently, that’s tough.”

Alexander suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his right knee late in the Packers’ Week 8 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, on a play in the end zone where he attempted to make a play on the football but came down awkwardly and injured his knee in the process.

Following Green Bay’s Week 10 bye, Alexander made an attempt to return to the field against Chicago in Week 11. However, he would reinjure his knee in that game and played only 10 snaps before exiting.

For several weeks, it seemed like Alexander was trending in the right direction. Prior to the Detroit game in Week 14, he returned to practice in a limited capacity for two days before missing the third day. The following week against Seattle, Alexander was a full participant for two days of practice before missing the third day, with LaFleur saying that he was not hitting the needed speeds in practice to play effectively that week.

A week later against New Orleans, Alexander returned to practice as a full participant all three days and was listed as questionable for that game. All of that seemed to be positive news up to this point, with Alexander’s workload in practice increasing each week.

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However, when the inactives were announced prior to kickoff of that Saints’ game, Alexander was on that list. Then, most recently, in the week leading up to the Minnesota game, Alexander went from being a full participant to a limited participant to not practicing at all on that Friday, with an apparent setback taking place.

“It’s been tough,” said Xavier McKinney when news broke that Alexander would be getting surgery. “Obviously, he’s dealt with this injury pretty much all year. Obviously, we wanted him to be back out there, but injuries are part of the game. So we understand that. We know that he was working to try to get back, but it’s like every time he was trying to, he would tweak it again.”

Alexander would undergo surgery on December 31st, prior to the Packers’ regular-season finale against Chicago, ending his 2024 season. Of course, the big question, with hindsight always being 20/20, is, should the Packers and Alexander have orchestrated surgery right away when the injury occurred with the hope of him being able to return late in the season?

On Monday this past week, when players were cleaning out their lockers following the loss to Philadelphia, Alexander was asked by local media members to speak, but he declined, adding that he doesn’t know if he will be in Green Bay next season and that he doesn’t have anything good to say.

When Gutekunst was asked if there was any disconnect between Alexander and the team following this season, he was adamant that wasn’t the case, but instead, there was natural frustration that comes with missing time.

“No, no, no,” Gutekunst said. “I mean, again, there’s frustration, I think, on both sides, from the fact that he can’t get out there, you know? And that’s tough, you know. I mean, I feel for him because he wants to be out there and he wants to play. But no disconnect.”

When on the field, Alexander continues to operate at a high level. This includes this past season allowing a completion rate of just 56% on 25 targets with a pick-six and three pass breakups. Unfortunately, due to injuries, Alexander often hasn’t been available.

Since the 2021 season, he has appeared in only 34 our of a possible 68 games. This includes playing only four games in 2021, and seven games in 2023 and 2024. During the 2022 season, when he made 16 starts, Alexander was a second-team All-Pro.

Alexander still has two years remaining on his contract. In 2025, he has a base salary of $16.15 million and a cap hit just shy of $25 million, according to Over the Cap. If the team were to release or trade him, a dead cap hit–or money still on the 2025 salary cap–of $18.11 million would be left behind, but it would free up $6.83 million in cap space for the 2025 season.

“It’s tough on the player, tough on the organization,” Gutekunst said of the injuries. “So we’ll kind of, as we start, we’re at the beginning stages of just kind of gathering information as a whole before we start looking at next year and how we’re going to lay this thing out. But we could. I mean, obviously, when he’s healthy and he’s ready to play, he’s a pretty good player.”

Packers head into offseason with cap space and ready to ‘attack it aggressively’

Paul Bretl | 1/17/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — “It’s time we started competing for championships,” said Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst on Thursday. That response was sparked by a question about what disappointed him about the 2024 season. In short, Gutekunst wants more urgency from this team–which he knows they can deliver on–because the time to win is now.

However, while all that may be true, at the same time, Gutekunst said he’s not a big believer in there being a “championship window” for a team and letting that dictate how an offseason unfolds.

Instead, and as we’ve seen the Packers operate for years, even beyond Gutekunst’s tenure, this is a process-driven organization, and the output from those various processes, whether it comes to free agency, the draft, or how to navigate the salary cap, will determine how the Packers’ proceed rather than a gut feeling because of some hypothetical window.

That approach may not sound aggressive, but Gutekunst believes that the team does operate aggressively each offseason. As we saw in 2024, if the right player or players are available–like a Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney–the Packers will make those additions and pay either top of market or near top of market value to do so.

But what I believe is a big difference from the outside perspective of an aggressive offseason versus how the Packers view it is that with those aforementioned processes that Green Bay has in place, if from an age, production, locker room fit, and salary cap perspective a signing makes sense, they’ll make an attempt to do so. However, for many outside of the organization, aggressive means getting the best free agent at a position of need regardless of what those other elements that are a part of the equation have to say.

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“I think I view every offseason that we have to attack it aggressively,” said Gutekunst. “The opportunities that present themselves, whether that be free agency or trade, are different every year. Every year there’s not going to be a Josh Jacobs or an Xavier McKinney out there to go get.

“So we’ll see kinda what transpires through the free agency class – who gets re-signed, who doesn’t, if there’s salary cap casualties, if there’s trade opportunities, all those. But I think we always operate under the aggressive mindset, but we have a process that we go through and we’ll see what’s available. If it’s right for us, then we’re going to attack it. If they’re not there, it’s not there.”

On paper, the Packers will have the ability to be somewhat aggressive in free agency this offseason. With a large number of players still on inexpensive rookie deals, Green Bay currently has $50.33 million in available cap space, according to Over the Cap, which in terms of spending power, ranks as the 10th-most among the NFL.

In addition to exploring outside free agent options, which could include bolstering the cornerback, pass rusher, and wide receiver positions, some of that cap space is going to have to be utilized on retaining some of their own pending free agents. A few notable names for the Packers are Josh Myers, Eric Stokes, Brandon McManus, and TJ Slaton among others.

“I feel really good,” said Gutekunst about the Packers’ salary cap situation. “Russ (Ball) does a fantastic job with our cap and all the decisions we’ve made over the past few years has put us in the situation where we’re in pretty good shape right now. Again, we’ve got to keep making good decisions, and it’s never a one-year thing. You’re looking at two, three years down the road as far as how these things impact things.

“We have a lot of good players that are under rookie contracts right now, and we’ve got to make sure we’re able to extend those guys when that time comes, but I feel really good our ability to go do what we need to do to field a championship-level team.”

During the end of the Aaron Rodgers-era in Green Bay, with a number of veteran contracts on that roster, the Packers routinely borrowed from the future salary cap–like a credit card–by restructuring numerous contracts and even utilizing void years, which pushed some of the current year’s salary cap charges to future seasons. This was done in an effort to run it back and make another Super Bowl push.

Going back to the ‘aggressive’ conversation, aggressiveness in an NFL offseason can come in a few different forms. It’s not only who teams bring in or what they spend but in how they manipulate the salary cap. The Packers during those two offseason in 2021 and 2022 were operating aggressively from a salary cap perspective, pushing hefty amounts of cap chargers to future seasons.

That approach was very much against the norm for the Packers organization, but Gutekunst believed those were necessary moves at the time in order to field the best team. Gutekunst prefers where the team is currently cap-wise compared to those years and, ideally, things will stay this way. But for the right player–because they don’t come along very often–or if in a certain situation, he’s willing to go down that less-flexible salary cap road again if needed.

“Certainly we’d love to be in that situation every year where you have a lot of flexibility to do what you need to do,” Gutekunst added. “I think depending on the opportunities that are out there and your football team or where you’re at can dictate some of that. Again, I think whenever there are players like X or Josh that are out there, which isn’t very often, I think even if you don’t have great flexibility, you have to really consider adding those kind of players because there’s just not that many of ’em.

“So again, I feel really good where we’re at right now, would love to stay in that kind of flexibility year to year. We’ll certainly try to do that, but at the same time if we kinda have to do some different things because we have an opportunity to acquire a player that can impact our team like these two guys did, we’ll do it.”

The draft is always going to be the Packers preferred avenue for adding talent to the roster and free agency is a supplemental tool. If teams are able to regularly hit on picks and get early contributions, the benefit of getting that type of production from a player on a rookie deal, who has a long runway with his entire career ahead of him, can often out-weigh the hefty contract given to a veteran already in their prime.

In a salary cap league, building out your roster through big free-agent acquisitions just is not a prudent long-term answer–there just isn’t enough cap space to go around. Good organizations are good in the draft.

The Packers will utilize some of that cap space to add free agents this offseason and bring back some of their own as well. Now, does that mean Tee Higgins is on their radar? We will find out. But what goes into determining that is far greater than the team recognizing that they need receiver help and him being the top receiver on the market.

“We’ve always been draft-and-develop, we believe in that,” said Gutekunst. “The development of our own players will always be a high priority for us. We, I think it’s one of the benefits we have in working here in Green Bay is we’re allowed to give guys time to really develop, and that’s certainly something that we’ll continue to do.”

‘Urgency’ crucial element for Packers to maximize championship opportunity

Paul Bretl | 1/16/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — With a Wildcard round loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the 2024 season for the Packers–who had Super Bowl aspirations coming into it–didn’t end as they had hoped. There will be plenty to improve upon over the offseason into 2025, but there is plenty to build upon as well, as the time to compete for Championships has arrived.

During the Packers’ bye week, the last time Brian Gutekunst spoke with the media, he mentioned the importance of teams peaking at the right time at the end of the season. Gutekunst again reiterated the importance of that element on Thursday. We saw the value this can have for the 2023 Packers, who found themselves on the cusp of the NFC Championship Game. However, the 2024 version of the Packers were not able to bottle up that mojo, or at least not in all aspects of the game.

“Same way now,” said Brian Gutekunst when asked how he feels now compared to the San Francisco loss last season. “I think obviously, you try not to live too much right in the moment. But whenever you lose the last game, no different than last season, you’re pretty disappointed, because there’s an opportunity in front of you that you lose.

“But at the same time, I think this team had a lot of growth during the year, particularly individual players. I thought we added some new players into this group and a new defensive coordinator. And I thought there were some really, really good things. As we take more steps together, I’m excited about it.”

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The offense, in particular struggled over the final three weeks of the season behind a disjointed passing game. To end the regular season, Jordan Love in that three game stretch against New Orleans, Minnesota, and Chicago was completing just 60% of his throws, which ranked 28th out of 36 eligible quarterbacks. His 6.2 yards per attempt during that span also ranks 28th, and Love is 22nd in passer rating. Those woes, unfortunately, carried over into the playoffs against a very stingy Eagles’ defense.

As Matt LaFleur pointed out on Tuesday, while the quarterback is quick to get the praise when all goes well and get the blame when things go wrong, the Packers’ struggles over the last month went beyond any one player. It was one everyone. In the Philadelphia game specifically, LaFleur would note the steady pressure that the Eagles’ front generated against the offensive line, and that lack of attention to detail by the receivers that played a role in two of Love’s interceptions.

“I think it’s, and this is really more for our football team and an offense as a whole, but just consistency, being able to control the game whenever we need to control the game. I think there was times we were exceptionally explosive this year, but I want to see us be able to control the game however we need to, whether that’s through the run game, the pass game, you always wanna be explosive because, as Matt says, that leads to points. But at the same time, situational football and being more consistent as an offense I think is something we can be better at and I think we will.”

However, despite the disappointing end to the season, there is still plenty of optimism within the organization that the Packers are on the right track.

The defense under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley took a major step forward in 2024, ranking in the top 10 in scoring, yards per rush, yards per pass, and takeaways. Not to mention that while the offense faltered down the stretch, the Green Bay defense was playing some its best ball of the season in the playoffs.

The continuity of being in the same system for a second year and the added comfort that comes with that, along with Hafley having a full year of experience under his belt as an NFL defensive coordinator and the experience gained by several rookies who were key contributors are all reasons that the arrow is still pointing upward for this unit.

“I thought Jeff Hafley did an amazing job coming in here in year one,” Gutekunst said. “Those guys really grew together, and they were a unit, and I thought we were playing our best football on defense at the end of the year. So I’m big believer that every year is a different year, but I do think some of the things we went through this year, we had a number of rookies play a lot of snaps for us, and so along with ‘X’ coming in from another team. So I think as those guys grow together, that communication will consistently get better and better. And so really excited about where the defense is right now.”

The offense, meanwhile, even with those late-season ups-and-downs, still finished the year top 10 in scoring and top-10 in yards per play–showcasing their efficiency and big play abilities. There’s a lot of talent on that side of the ball, and as Gutekunst said, many of those players grew individually during the season, including Love.

“I think we’re very, very excited about his growth, not only as a player, but what he’s doing in our locker room as a leader,” Gutekunst said. “I’ve talked many times about how even keel he is, and I think his growth and the way he manages our football team has been pretty impressive.”

Obviously, improvements have to be made, but the Packers, internally, believe that the majority of the pieces are already in place to be a true contender. However, while that’s clearly a big part of the championship equation, it’s also about capitalizing on these opportunities when they’re available because success one year isn’t guaranteed the next in the NFL, and with the group of players that make up this Packers team, the time to compete is now.

“You always have some disappointments in the year,” Gutekunst added. “I think for me, the thing that’s been on my mind as we concluded this season is we need to continue to ramp up our sense of urgency. These opportunities don’t come, the life of a player in the National Football League is not very long. We’ve got a bunch of good guys in that locker room, we’ve got a bunch of talented guys in that locker room, and I think it’s time we started competing for championships.”

A young roster in the NFL is great for a number of reasons–speed, athleticism, inexpensive contracts, hungry players with something to prove–but there’s a learning curve that comes with that as well. While, at the end of the day, youth isn’t an excuse and the Packers won’t use it as one, it has been a part of their reality the last two seasons.

But there’s a difference between being young in age and young in experience. The Packers may be the former, but they are no longer the latter. The early success this team had unexpectedly in 2023 is gone. What they’re left with is the pain of a disappointing end to a 2024 season. That failure needs to create a heightened sense of urgency.

Potential is great–and the Packers absolutely have it–but now it’s time to maximize it.

“I think they’re ready. Like I said, I think they are wired right,” Gutekunst said. “I think that group is the kind of guys that can do that. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to go do it. We fell short in some areas this year, like they always are every year, a little frustrating. But at the same time, I didn’t think the blinked.

“So I’m excited about the group, but the sense of urgency, not getting complacent, some of these guys have now proven themselves to be NFL football players and have attained that, but what’s out there for us as a team that we’re willing to commit to and sacrifice for. If I’m looking at one thing, that would be it.”

Taking next step on defense for Packers starts with pass rush

Paul Bretl | 1/16/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis.– It was an impressive first season for the Packers’ defense under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, but taking that next step in 2025 starts with the pass rush.

“We’ve got to put in the work,” said Matt LaFleur on Tuesday.

Throughout the season, the Packers inconsistency when it came to pressuring the quarterback with just a four-man rush was a regular hurdle that the defense had to overcome. But particularly against the NFC’s best, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Detroit, all of whom have stout offensive lines, that inability to get home was magnified.

In the most recent matchups against these teams, Jalen Hurts was pressured on 33% of his dropbacks, according to PFF’s metrics. Sam Darnold, meanwhile, was pressured on only 31% of his dropbacks, and Jared Goff 28% of his.

For some context around those figures, Justin Herbert was pressured on 33.8% of his dropbacks for the entire NFL season and that ranked 25th out of 42 quarterbacks. A pressure rate of 31% ranked 32nd and a 28% pressure rate ranked 38th.

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Darnold and Goff in particular, would pick a part the Green Bay defense with that time in the pocket. Darnold was 26-of-30 passing for 315 yards with three scores. Goff would 26-for-30 as well, for 215 passing yards when kept clean with one touchdown and one interception.

“I would say in those known passing situations, get back on track, third and medium plus, guys got to be able to win one on ones and there’s certain things you can do structurally to help create some one-on-one opportunities for our guys,” LaFleur said. Typically, if you put a linebacker on the ball and you space it out so that each lineman is covered, you’re going to get a 5-0, and you’ll have five one-on-ones, but somebody’s gotta win.”

On the flip side, we saw the havoc that can come for an offense when the four-man front is able to get home regularly. Again, going back to that Eagles’ game, the Philadelphia front was putting steady pressure on Love throughout the game. That then allowed an extra defender to be in coverage and for the Eagles to sit in their two-high shell protecting against the downfield throw.

You put all of that together, and moving the ball through the air becomes a massive challenge for really any offense.

As eluded to, this was a season-long issue for the Packers–not something that only happened against the better teams, although it was magnified in these games. Their overall pressure numbers rank around the middle of the pack this season, while Green Bay would finish top-10 in sacks.

However, helping to inflate those figures was defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and either the blitzes or simulated pressures, to throw some eye-candy at the offensive line, that he sent to drum up some favorable matchups and disruption. When it came to the defensive front winning its one-on-one matchups, the Packers ranked 26th in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric.

With Hafley needing to intervene to help generate more pressures on the quarterback, the trickle-down effect of that is that the entire defensive game plan on a week-to-week basis had to shift somewhat drastically, as LaFleur described, from what the original vision was for this unit.

What we saw this season was Hafley’s willingness to adjust based on how the defense was performing–an incredibly valuable ability and something he talked about since Day 1 when arriving in Green Bay. However, because of that, what we didn’t necessarily see was the true Hafley defense.

“I envisioned rushing four and playing three deep/four under a heck of a lot more and we ended up doing a lot of simulated blitzes and different pressures and playing a bunch of cover-2,” said LaFleur.

“But I think, again, you always evolve throughout the course of the season, through the offseason, but that was the foundation, I would say, of the defense. But I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting. I thought we were playing some pretty good football at the end.”

Pressuring the quarterback is the name of the game. When the defensive front is getting home, every single defender benefits from it. Pressures disrupt the timing and rhythm of the play, get the quarterback off his spot, and can speed things up, resulting in poor mechanics, bad decisions, and mistakes.

But when a quarterback has steady time in the pocket, that puts a massive burden on the the secondary as they now have to defend opposing receivers for three or four seconds at a time. That’s going to be a tall task for just about any unit, especially against the game’s high-powered offenses, which you’re bound to run into during the playoffs.

I’ve said it all season long, and I’ll say it once more, the ceiling for what this Packers’ defense can be is going to be determined by the play of their four-man front. In order for the defense to take a step forward in 2025–after what was an impressive first year under Hafley–a more consistent pass rush will be needed.

“I thought there was an incredible about of growth,” LaFleur said of the defense. “To be honest with you, in terms of maybe a vision of what we wanted to do and where we went to were kind of two different things. But I think that’s good coaching, right? You make the necessary adjustments and you put your guys in position and then ultimately those guys gotta go out there and execute. I thought Hafley did an outstanding job, and it’s not just Haf, it’s our entire defensive staff did a really good job with that.”

Packers have to ‘do a better job’ in 2025 of featuring TE Tucker Kraft

Paul Bretl | 1/15/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The offseason is a time for reflection and evaluation, but Packers’ head coach didn’t need much time after the 2024 season ended to recognize that Tucker Kraft needs to be involved more on offense.

“100%,” said LaFleur on Tuesday when asked if Kraft can have a George Kittle or Travis Kelce-like impact in the Packers’ offense, “and I think that’s on us to make sure we find him and feature him because he is, I mean, when he gets the ball in his hands, you feel him. So, if there’s an area that we gotta do a better job on, I would say featuring the tight end.”

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Kraft had 70 targets and 55 receptions this season, so it’s not as if he was forgotten about in the passing game. He also led this Packers team in touchdowns this season. With that said, there were also nine games where he had three or fewer targets, and that’s a small role for such an impactful presence.

There is certainly more out there for Kraft in the passing game. If LaFleur believes he can have that Kittle or Kelce-like impact, then he needs more opportunities, particularly in an offense that was dealing with injuries and up-and-down play at the receiver position during the season.

Despite ranking 17th among all tight ends in targets, Kraft was sixth in receiving yards this season with 733, in large part due to his ability to pick up yards after the catch (YAC) and generate chunk plays. Kraft’s 13.3 yards per catch was the third-highest mark among tight ends and he led the position group in average YAC per reception.

“I talked about playing with violence and finishing and just being an (expletive)-hole out there,” said Kraft on Monday. “I think you turn the film on, you’re gonna see ‘85’ all over the field, just doing that. I’m just gonna come back and bring it again in 2025. You guys are gonna see the same thing, same goals I want to set out. I want to be the best blocking tight end in the NFL while also being that guy. I want to be the guy in Year 3. I have goals and aspirations.”

The opportunity for Kraft that is out there doesn’t only come with more opportunities in the passing game, but in how he’s utilized–and this is two-fold. It’s, at times, making him one of the first reads in Jordan Love’s progression so he is more of a focal point in the passing game.

In addition to that, it’s moving Kraft around more and allowing him to attack different parts of the field. According to Pro Football Focus, of Kraft’s 70 targets, only 10 came 10 yards or more beyond the line of scrimmage. However, particularly over the middle of the field–where tight ends can be a real mismatch–on those intermediate to deep routes, Kraft was 6-fo-6 when targeted on such throws, totaling 184 yards with two touchdowns.

So why as the season unfolded didn’t we see Kraft get more of those opportunities in the passing game that were just described?

In part, as LaFleur described, there is a learning opportunity here for him when it comes to how he incorporates Kraft into his game-plans. But, as is always the case, there’s more to it than just that.

There are the regular blocking responsibilities or chips that limit his route tree and the Packers were short-handed at the tight end position for much of the year with Luke Musgrave on injured reserve for a large portion of it, which left the Packers with Ben Sims and John FitzPatrick seeing more significant playing time.

“For a lot of reasons,” said LaFleur when asked why Kraft wasn’t featured more this season. “It just depends, going back to who you’re playing. A lot of times, especially in known passing situations, we were trying to help certain spots and typically I would say it’s usually the tight ends and the backs who get a bunch of that responsibility. That’s part of the reason.”

The Packers will spend the offseason diagnosing their own passing game and what went wrong in these final games of the season that resulted in the disjointed performances we saw. Featuring Kraft and expanding how he is utilized in the passing game won’t be the only solution, but it can potentially be a big part of that equation because of the mismatches he creates, his ability to pick up yards after the catch, and just the pure tenacity he plays with.

“I’m going to do everything I can in my power to stay healthy,” said Tucker Kraft of the upcoming offseason. “I was shorted of an offseason last year. I’m going to do everything I can to get on the same page and build that relationship and that trust (with Jordan Love) and get everybody in here on that strain of camaraderie and brotherhood. That’s what it’s going to take.”

What items fall on Jordan Love’s offseason to-do list for the Packers?

Paul Bretl | 1/14/2024

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love’s second year as the starting quarterback for the Packers was a bit of a rollercoaster ride.

Injuries during the first half of the season forced him to miss time and hampered his play, to a degree. Out of the play, we saw an impressive stretch from Weeks 11-15 where Love and the offense were heating up with five straight 30-plus point performances, only for both to cool off drastically during the team’s final three games of the season.

So what’s next for Love as he enters his sixth NFL season in 2025 and his third as the Packers’ quarterback? Well, there’s no one answer, but two things that Matt LaFleur described on Tuesday as areas of emphasis for Love will be on his footwork, specifically the consistency of it on certain plays, along with being a more vocal leader.

Footwork is the foundation for a quarterback’s success on any given play. As quarterbacks coach Tom Clements has said previously, he usually has a good idea of how the pass turned out by watching the quarterback’s footwork.

Footwork, the cornerstone of a quarterback’s performance, is more than just steps. It’s about executing the right drop to ensure timely throws, maintaining balance, and keeping the feet in constant motion. This synchronized movement with the quarterback’s eyes is crucial for a successful play. Any deviation from this can disrupt the quarterback’s mechanics, leading to inaccurate passes or mistimed plays.

In the Philadelphia game, specifically, LaFleur mentioned that on certain drops, Love’s footwork got a little loose, which can disrupt the timing and rhythm of the passing play, especially when the ball is supposed to be out quickly. This also wasn’t the first time throughout the season that this happened either. As Love navigated a knee and groin injury during the first half of the year, the lack of practice time hurt some of those fundamental components of playing the position.

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“I think just the one thing I did talk to him about was just the consistency of his footwork on some of these plays,” LaFleur said on Tuesday. “I think he would be the first to tell you the same thing because there were some instances throughout the course of the season and specifically in this last game where the rhythm and timing, especially when you have a rhythm play, like quick game for example, just that left-right footwork that we take just hitting your back foot and letting it rip.

“Or if you do take a hitch, you gotta take your checkdown, typically, or progress on. So I would say that, because I think that’s the foundation of great quarterback play is the fundamentals, the techniques, the footwork.”

Like any young player who steps into a more prominent role, Love has made strides when it comes to being a leader on this team. But as LaFleur said, there’s more out there for the quarterback in that regard, which includes being more vocal when things aren’t going how they should be.

A big contract or being the quarterback doesn’t necessarily make someone a leader. Now, I’m sure the hope internally for organizations is that element is a part of the equation, but it’s not a given either. However, with Love, beyond those aspects, he’s built up that emotional bank account within the locker room. He’s well respected, his even-keeled and relateable demeanor doesn’t display his status as the franchise quarterback, and he works relentlessly each day, which his teammates see.

That equity that he’s built up over time puts him in a position to be more vocal when things aren’t going right, to outwardly correct mistakes that are taking place, and to reset the standard if he’s sees that it’s slipping.

“I think the next step is just to continue to evolve as a vocal leader,” LaFleur said. “I think that just kind of comes with the position naturally. I think he’s taken steps to get there but I think he can really demand a lot because the locker room respects him and they respect him not only as a person but by the work he puts in. He’s a grinder. He’s one of the guys; I think that’s one of his best qualities is he is one of the guys.

“But they all respect him but I think, when things aren’t quite right, I think he can voice that, as well. When guys aren’t quite doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and he’s one of the guys to talk to about that. I just think it means more when it comes from your quarterback than it does from me or one of our other coaches.”

In a season that ended the way the Packers did, it can be easy to focus in on the negatives or what didn’t go right. But things certainly weren’t all bad for this Packers team either. They won 11 games, improving by two full wins over last year’s team, the defense took a big step in the first year under Jeff Hafley, and the offense was top 10 in scoring.

With Love specifically, he again showcased that he can operate at a high level–although, admittedly, the consistency of that is still needed–his decision-making greatly improved as the season went on, and he’s not easily rattled, even when down multiple scores.

However, where Love perhaps made the biggest stride this season was in his ability to avoid sacks and negative plays–something that LaFleur was really impressed by.

“I thought there was a lot of great moments,” said LaFleur of Love’s play. “Every year’s going to be a little bit different.  The one thing that I’m so impressed by when I watch him play is his ability to avoid the sacks. There was many times, just his ability to slide in the pocket, manipulate that pocket, know where his checkdowns are and his outlets, or run up in the pocket. I think he’s got a really good grasp for that, really good feel, because you never want quarterbacks looking at the rush; you want their eyes downfield and you’ve got to feel that.”

What the Packers couldn’t overcome against the NFC’s top opponents this season were the slow starts. A lack of execution and self-inflicted mistakes were often the root cause behind those woes, but as far as what contributed to those issues over and over again, that’s still an answer the Packers are searching for.

As LaFleur will often point out, the quarterback gets all the credit when the team wins and all the blame when the team loses, but in both instances, it’s a group effort to get to either of those points.

Throughout LaFleur’s conversation with the media on Tuesday, he referenced things that went wrong around Love against the Eagles that contributed to the offensive struggles. On the interception by Darius Slay, LaFleur noted that the receiver needed to do a better job of stacking the defender to help create a more open throwing window.

On the interception over the middle, the receiver was supposed to break in at 20 yards from the line of scrimmage but instead did so at 15 yards, throwing off the entire play design. LaFleur also noted the litany of dropped passes throughout the season, and that Love also dealt with steady pressure from the Eagles’ four-man front as well.

Now, none of that is to absolve Love of his up and down play this season. When asked if Love needed to perform better, without hesitating, LaFleur said, “absolutely.” But those examples provided by LaFleur provide context around the issues that the Packers’ offense ran into and showcase that it wasn’t any one player behind it all, but it was on everyone.

“You’ve got to maximize all your opportunities,” LaFleur said of the offense’s struggles. “You’ve got to execute. I can tell you specifically since it’s so fresh this last game, we didn’t do a great job, like there was pressure all day in the pocket in the passing game. There were some runs, there were some bad looks that we ran into, and there were other times when we had some running lanes and we don’t win our one-on-one, we don’t win our block. And that’s football. We’ve just got to collectively as a group – all of us, myself as much as anybody – we’ve got to be better.”

Growth, whether that be for an NFL quarterback or really anything we do in life, isn’t linear. Love’s play during the second half of the 2023 season wasn’t going to become his floor, just like his play over the final three games of this season isn’t his ceiling. Love is still an “ascending” player, as LaFleur said.

There are things to work on, areas that must improve if this team is going to prove that they can hang with the NFC’s best, and accomplishing that doesn’t only fall on Love’s shoulders, but across the offensive side of the ball the Packers have to improve.

“We gotta play better in those moments,” said LaFleur. “We can’t have the critical turnovers. We need everybody on the details. Because, I said this to our team for sure yesterday, but the details usually is what separates. It separates good from great and we have got to be on top of our details, everybody doing their individual whatever they’re asked to do. They’ve got to do their 1/11th at a high level, otherwise it’s hard to win those games.”

After ‘rough year,’ Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd ready to help Josh Jacobs and offense in Year 2

Paul Bretl | 1/14/2025

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd is ready to turn the page and begin preparing for his second year in the NFL after dealing with injuries and setbacks throughout the 2024 season.

“Been a very, very rough year,” said Lloyd at his locker the day after Green Bay’s loss to Philadelphia.

Lloyd’s start to training camp was delayed due to a hip injury. A hamstring in the Packers preseason opener would keep him sidelined until Week 2 of the regular season, at which point he suffered a foot injury against Indianapolis.

That would land him on injured reserve. Then, as Lloyd was working his way back, he was hit by appendicitis. In his recovery from that, Lloyd would tweak his hamstring, which ended his season. He finished his rookie season appearing in one game and playing 10 snaps.

“Everything happens for a reason,” said Lloyd about the injuries. “So that’s the thing that went through my head. I’ve always tried to, okay, ‘why this happen, why this happen,’ but at the end of the day you just gotta go with it. Go with it, trust your guy, believe everything happens for a reason. Believe, have faith, and just hope for the best.”

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Helping Lloyd along as he navigated these injuries was Josh Jacobs. The two would drive over from Lambeau Field to the Don Hutson Center each day for practice, with Jacobs making sure that Lloyd “stayed in it,” as he put it, by providing pointers along the way and taking the rookie under his wing.

While rehabbing from the various injuries, Lloyd did everything he could off the field to stay engaged and familiarizing himself with the playbook, the weekly game-plans, and after a play was made, putting himself in each experience, thinking through what he might have done differently.

“Honestly just not being on the field I got better mentally, emotionally, being able to be there with the teammates,” Lloyd said. “Every practice, every meeting, I’m in every meeting. My coaches still give me the game test as if I’m playing. So I know the plays.

“Everything mentally is pretty good, so that’s the way I got better. Even though I wasn’t able to go out there and play, I still made sure like I was, when people made plays, I thought what I could have done different or just try to put myself in each experience.”

Just as Christian Watson and Eric Stokes did last offseason, Lloyd recently spent time at UW-Madison to get to the root cause of the soft tissue injuries. It was a full five hours doing a variety of exercises to find “deficiencies,” or areas that need to be strengthened.

Lloyd has already began the program prescribed to him after his visit to Madison.

“You’re just doing multiple different things to figure out how your body works,” Lloyd said. “Deficiencies in your body, seeing what’s stronger, what’s—really focusing on everything. Running on different treadmills to see how you run, to see if you’re running correctly, if there’s a problem with certain things. The science around it is crazy.”

The Packers selected Lloyd in the third round of this past April’s draft and he brings something “different,” as GM Brian Gutekunst put it, than the other running backs on the roster. Lloyd measures in at 5-9 – 220 pounds and has terrific burst–running in the 4.4s–and change of direction ability that is easily spotted on the practice field when the ball is in his hands.

Matt LaFleur views Lloyd as a back who can bring a change of pace to the running back position with his speed and also be someone who can impact the passing game as well, giving the Packers a “matchup nightmare,” as LaFleur called him during the offseason, out of the backfield.

Priority No. 1 for Lloyd this offseason is to get his body healthy so he’s physically able to do everything he needs to in order to prepare for the upcoming season. Although Year 1 in the NFL didn’t go as planned, Lloyd now knows what’s required on a daily basis from a preparation standpoint and he’s ready to put his foot on the gas to make sure that he can help the 2025 Packers as much as possible–something he’s very much ready to do.

“Josh had a really good year,” added Lloyd, “and I do think and I do know that I can help him a lot. He had a lot of hits on his body, I’m there to help and he knows that. It’s going to be fun when I get out there on the field to play with him.”

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