Packers Notebook (Sept. 20)

LaFleur, Rodgers connection

When the Green Bay Packers hired Matt LaFleur as coach in January 2019, the hope was the bright, young offensive mind with a strong track record with quarterbacks could bring the best out of two-time MVP Aaron Rodgers.

Instead, neither Rodgers individually nor the offense as a whole were any better compared to 2018. While the Packers surged from six wins to 13, Rodgers was the same statistically ho-hum quarterback.

On Sunday at Minnesota, Rodgers looked an awful lot like the Rodgers who demolished the entire NFL during his famous run-the-table tour of 2016. Rodgers, who ended last season with a sub-100 passer rating in seven of his final eight regular-season games, completed 32-of-44 passes for 364 yards and four touchdowns, good for a passer rating of 127.4. It was his best passer rating since back-to-back games of 158.3 vs. Oakland and 129.0 vs. Kansas City at midseason last year.

“I saw that laser focus come since the beginning of the week,” receiver Davante Adams said of Rodgers after the game. “Obviously, he’s always extremely focused, but there’s a certain type of look in his eye he has and he definitely had that going into the week.

“People may not know, but I pay attention to a lot of stuff. When I see my guy having his hood on his head and he’s got headphones on. As soon as we leave a meeting, he’s popping headphones back on, I don’t know what’s he’s listening to but, whatever it is, I need to listen to that, as well. That’s my guy.”

Rodgers had a strong training camp. Some of it was the year two comfort level with LaFleur and the offense. It was more than that, though. While some outsiders speculated that Rodgers would arrive to training camp feeling surly about the team’s drafting of quarterback Jordan Love in the first round, it’s been the opposite.

Rodgers arrived in a good spot mentally and physically, having spent an unusual offseason “finding my center.” At one point during camp, he volunteered that he had picked up on something from watching himself in 2010.

“I feel like I can deal the ball as quickly as I want to, and today was a good start for that,” Rodgers said after the game. “I feel like I was on time with my throws. There wasn’t the need for a lot of extended plays, and the couple that we had turned into pretty good plays.”

It added up to the biggest week one performance by Green Bay since joining the NFL in 1922. In fact, the yardage output of 522 total yards was by far the most in an opener in franchise history, dwarfing the 488 yards piled up against Atlanta in an overtime victory in 2002. The previous record for week one in a game that didn’t go to overtime was 424 yards against Detroit in 2001.

On Sunday, Green Bay will host the Lions. By the end of their week one loss to Chicago, they were without their top three corners due to hamstring injuries.

Reset button

LaFleur is 7-0 against the NFC North, including a pair of wins over Detroit last season. Oddly enough, the Packers led for exactly 0 seconds in those games, winning with frantic comebacks and walk-off field goals by Mason Crosby.

That will be LaFleur’s battle cry to keep the Packers grounded after an impressive debut.

“We’ve got to hit that reset button and get to work because we know we’ve got a tremendous task in front of us,” LaFleur said Monday.

His counterpart, Matt Patricia, wants to hit the reset button, too. The Lions had the Bears beaten twice but wound up suffering a bitter 27-23 loss. Detroit blew a 23-6 lead in the fourth quarter but would have won, anyway, had rookie running back D’Andre Swift not dropped a 16-yard touchdown pass on the next-to-last play of the game.

The Lions, having blown two wins against Green Bay last year, need to avoid the here-we-go-again mentality, Patricia acknowledged.

“I think that for us, obviously, last year is last year, and there’s some pieces that are different than where we were last year from that aspect of it,” he said. “So, we make sure that we’re focusing on the guys that are here now. There’s a lot of guys here who are in key roles that were not part of last year’s team, so they certainly don’t have that mentality at all.

“For us, we actually have to make sure it doesn’t creep in. Sometimes maybe you hear it too much from the outside world, then you start to think, ‘Is that the case?’ But it’s not the case for us inside. So right now for us, we have to make sure we understand it was week one and we got to improve week two.”

Old nemesis

The Lions signed 35-year-old running back Adrian Peterson on Sept. 7. Even with substantial investments in Kerryon Johnson (second round, 2018) and Swift (second round, 2020), Peterson rushed for a team-high 93 yards against Chicago.

Peterson has played for Minnesota, Arizona, New Orleans and Washington. Coincidentally, he’ll face all of those teams this season.

“No, I’m not that salty, you know,” Peterson told reporters in Detroit. “It was just a great opportunity, to be honest with you. A great team. I loved what (offensive coordinator Darrell) Bevell had to say and coach Patricia. When I evaluated the team, I felt like I could really contribute and help this team be successful. That was ultimately the main thing, and being able to play in the NFC North was a bonus, for sure.”

Peterson has rushed for 1,975 yards and 16 touchdowns in 19 career games against Green Bay. Only Hall of Famers Walter Payton (2,484 yards in 24 games) and Barry Sanders (2,059 yards in 19 games) have rushed for more.

Dead zone

How upset was LaFleur about Green Bay’s red-zone troubles to start last week’s game?

“I was very, very, very upset,” LaFleur said.

Green Bay misfired on its first three treks inside Minnesota’s 20-yard line. The first died after two completions of minus-1 yard apiece. The second ended when Aaron Jones was stuffed on third-and-goal from the 1 and Rodgers misfired on fourth down. The third petered out after three consecutive throwaways by Rodgers.

It was the same lament from Patricia. Yes, his team coughed up a big lead in the fourth quarter. But, in Patricia’s mind, the game never should have come down to the final quarter. Detroit settled for a pair of short field goals in the first half after Stafford went 0-for-3 passing and Peterson rushed three times for 4 yards.

“We have to capitalize there,” Patricia said. “We’re doing some things that weren’t really how we practiced or coached it. There were just some plays in there that I think could’ve really changed the scenarios at the end of the game. Those plays are really important to capitalize on so you don’t have to be on those constant back-and-forth situations at the end.”

Runyan’s debut

Injuries hammered Green Bay’s offensive line. Billy Turner was inactive with a knee injury, Lane Taylor suffered a season-ending knee injury and Lucas Patrick exited with an injured shoulder. Just like that, rookie sixth-round pick Jon Runyan was thrust into action for the final 15 snaps. He fared well, playing right guard for two series that ended in touchdowns.

Runyan played at Michigan and is the son of former longtime NFL starter Jon Runyan Sr. Runyan Sr., who is employed by the league, promised a film session with his son. His mom, who has been in Green Bay helping her son settle into his new place, prepared a welcome-home dinner.

“It’s insane,” Runyan said, of blocking for Rodgers. “I remember being in eighth grade and watching Aaron win the Super Bowl. I was sitting there on my couch. Now I got thrown in my first NFL game I ever dressed, I’m in charge of protecting him. It’s kind of crazy how life works sometimes.”

“That was my first snaps with the first-team offense, first snaps with Aaron, with all the guys. I think I handled myself pretty well. It was a little nerve-racking at first. There weren’t any fans in the stadium, so that helped a little bit too with communication, but it felt good to get out there.”

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