Packers coach Matt LaFleur was unwinding, finally at home around 10 p.m. local time, with a glass of wine in one hand and his phone in the other. He rattled through the names of players whose leadership was so important over the last two weeks, and really the last six months, in making his team what it’s become.
“It absolutely starts with Aaron [Rodgers],” LaFleur said, “and then it goes to Davante [Adams] and Marcedes [Lewis], guys like Randall Cobb, the experience he brings, guys like Allen Lazard. Bobby [Tonyan] was so integral, and it’s a shame he’s not going to be with us till the end of it. Aaron Jones. We just have so many dudes.”
LaFleur mentioned that Elgton Jenkins is there too, as is all-world left tackle David Bakhtiari, who’s still working his way back from a torn ACL. He brought up defensive captains Adrian Amos and Kenny Clark, newcomer De’Vondre Campbell, emerging star Rashan Gary, and injured defensive cornerstones Za’Darius Smith and Jaire Alexander.
Which is why, at one point, I stopped LaFleur and told him it sounded like he was just reading off the starting lineup.
“I know, that’s my point,” LaFleur said. “It’s hard to pinpoint who, exactly, because it’s so many guys that just bring so much. It’s Darnell Savage. Kevin King.”
And on he went.
The story over the last two weeks in Green Bay, understandably, has been Rodgers, his positive COVID-19 test, his resulting absence from the team and the subsequent airing of his thoughts on the vaccine on .
But there’s been another story unfolding along with it. That’s one of a team that, because it’s capable of handling that noise, might wind up being a roundabout beneficiary of it.
Bottom line, the Packers’ 17–0 win over the Seahawks on Sunday said plenty about a lot of people who work at Lambeau Field that don’t wear No. 12. Rodgers played fine (23-of-37, 292 yards and an interception), to be sure, and especially for someone who didn’t take a single snap in practice all week. He also needed plenty of help to get there and push an offense out of an early rut.
And in what should be a great sign not just of where the Packers are, but of where they’re going, that help was there for Rodgers in abundance against Seattle. Which is just another reason why LaFleur wasn’t about to narrow down his list.
In fact, if anything, it’s growing every week.
