Packers’ Matt LaFleur Faces The Greatest Challenge Of His Coaching Career

Mike McCarthy couldn’t do it.

Mike Holmgren, Ray Rhodes and Mike Sherman never had to do it.

Now, we’ll find out if Matt LaFleur can win football games without a franchise quarterback leading his team.

LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers’ sixth-year head coach, has been remarkably fortunate for the gift of good health at the quarterback position during his first five years on the job.

During LaFleur’s first four seasons, future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers made all 71 possible starts (including playoffs) and won two Most Valuable Player awards. Last season, Jordan Love made all 19 possible starts and was as good as any quarterback in football the second half of the season.

In all, the Packers went 59-31 in LaFleur’s first five seasons, an impressive .656 winning percentage.

LaFleur’s good fortune with healthy quarterbacks ended Friday night, though, when Love suffered an MCL sprain that will sideline him an estimated 3-6 weeks. Now, LaFleur faces the tall task of trying to win football games with Tennessee castoff Malik Willis instead of a franchise quarterback.

“Obviously, you don't want to see any of your teammates get hurt,” Packers running back Josh Jacob said after Green Bay’s 34-29 loss to Philadelphia Friday. “But obviously you don't want to see the leader of your team get hurt.”

Only one Green Bay coach since 1992 has had to try winning games with his No. 2 quarterback — and that was McCarthy.

Holmgren (1992-’98), Rhodes (1999) and Sherman (2000-’05) were all blessed to coach Hall of Famer Brett Favre. In his remarkable 16 seasons with the Packers, Favre made 275 consecutive starts and led the Packers to two Super Bowls, one Super Bowl title and 11 playoffs berths.

Technically, Favre was the No. 2 quarterback to open the 1992 season, which was Holmgren’s first year on the job. But considering then-Packers general manager Ron Wolf had traded a first round draft pick for Favre, it was only a matter of time before he was going to replace the aging, injury prone Majkowski. And that time came in Week 3, when Majkowski suffered a torn ligament in his ankle and Favre never gave the job back.

Rodgers missed 18 starts during his 15 seasons as a starter, and McCarthy had to try surviving with Matt Flynn, Seneca Wallace, Scott Tolzien and Brett Hundley. In those 18 games, Green Bay went a combined 6-11-1 — a .361 winning percentage.

Flynn was the most successful No. 2 quarterback of that group going 3-3 (.500) and helping save the Packers’ 2013 season when they rallied to make the playoffs. Hundley went 3-6 (.333), Tolzien was 0-1-1 (.250) and Wallace was 0-1 (.000).

“I'll say this … I think it's critical, and when you get in these spots, that one individual doesn't hold back the unit, and that's especially true at the quarterback position,” McCarthy said after losing Rodgers for seven games in 2013. “So we will play offense like we've always played offense, and we will go out and fully expect to score points, like we're supposed to score points.”

Of course, that’s easier said than done. In the 18 games McCarthy didn’t have Rodgers, the Packers averaged a paltry 18.8 points per contest.

Now, LaFleur faces the greatest challenge of his Green Bay tenure — keeping the Packers afloat as Love recovers.

Barring anything unforeseen — such as a trade or the signing of veteran Ryan Tannehill — Willis will be Green Bay’s starter when it hosts Indianapolis on Sept. 15.

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst traded a seventh round draft pick to Tennessee on Aug. 27 after both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt were released at the end of training camp. Clifford has since joined Green Bay’s practice squad.

Willis, a third round pick in 2022, was 0-3 as a starter and posted an abysmal 49.4 passer rating with the Titans. In 11 career games, Willis is 35-of-66 for 350 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

Still, the Packers saw enough potential to swing a deal for Willis, who played collegiately at Liberty.

“The one thing we saw, particularly with this new coaching staff in Tennessee, is how much he progressed within the offense playing from the pocket and making plays that way,” Gutekunst said after acquiring Willis. “Again, this will be new for him and obviously the quarterback position, it’ll take a little bit of time. But at the same time, just really excited about where his progression has taken him this far and where he’ll go particularly under our group.”

Of course, LaFleur never thought he’d have to try winning with Willis this soon.

The good news for Green Bay is LaFleur is one of the NFL’s most creative offensive minds and has had tremendous success with quarterbacks.

LaFleur played a role in Rodgers improving his play and winning MVP’s in both 2020 and 2021. LaFleur also helped Love grow into one of the top quarterbacks in football a year ago.

This will be a challenge unlike any other, though.

While Willis is a terrific dual threat quarterback and is extremely elusive, he’s nowhere near as polished of a passer as Love. Willis has struggled making on-schedule throws, his throwing mechanics are inconsistent, his field recognition is poor and he takes too many unnecessary sacks.

“I think he knows what he’s doing,” LaFleur said of Willis last week. “It’s still the refinement of everything, the details, the fundamentals, but he’s working hard at it.”

He’ll have to work harder than ever.

So will LaFleur, as the Packers face the Herculian-task of making sure their season isn’t lost before Love returns.