The Packers defeated the Saints in their second preseason game 20-10. After the game, head coach Matt LaFleur was talked to the media. Here are the highlights from LaFleur’s postgame press conference.
Jordan Love’s Performance
Matt LaFleur on Jordan Love: “I see a much more decisive player. I think that’s going to lead to a much more effective player.”
LaFleur lamented the drops again, especially Samori Toure’s deep one.
“That ball has to be caught,” LaFleur said. pic.twitter.com/32rTMwU94U
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) August 20, 2022
LaFleur had high praise for Jordan Love. However, it wasn’t his stat line that he was excited about. He was excited about how decisive he was.
“I see a much more decisive player. I think that is going to lead to a much more effective player”
Love is definitely not lacking any confidence on the field. He is stepping into throws and making great decisions on the field. Even his 11 yard run looked like a great decision. Instead of forcing a throw, he used his feet and picked up a first down. The positive spin on this is that it is hard to teach confidence. That’s something that has to come from the player and it looks like Love is gaining confidence fast. Love’s performance was a big topic in Lafleur’s postgame press conference.
LaFleur Laments Dropped Passes
Similar to last week, LaFleur pretty much absolved Love from any wrongdoing on some of the incompletions. The Packers as a team had 5 or 6 drops and that clearly annoyed LaFleur. He specifically pointed out a pass to Samori Toure that should have been caught down the sideline. “That ball has to be caught” LaFleur is right. In big game situations, those throws have to be hauled in. Games can hinge on whether a receiver catches a big pass or not. This will definitely be an emphasis in practice movie forward as it was in LaFleur’s postgame press conference.
Jokes With Reporters When Asked About Special Teams
The special teams had some struggles. On one play, the Packers had too many men on the field during a punt. Then on a separate play only had 10 men. When asked about this, LaFleur joked with the reporter about why he had to ask so many negative questions. It was clear that LaFleur did not want to talk about the special teams. Those types of penalties and mistakes are mental errors that will be addressed in practice. It is concerning that the Packers are still having this kind of trouble. However, it was fun to see LaFleur joke with the reporters and not completely bash his team.
Overall, LaFleur was very positive about his team’s performance. He alluded to having to watch the film in a lot of questions but had high praise for how his team performed. There was a lot more to the press conference but these were the highlights from LaFleur’s postgame press conference.