Aaron Rodgers Discuss Sideline Spat with Matt LaFleur

The Packers quarterback was visibly frustrated in the fourth quarter with the conservative play calling by the coaching staff.
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Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers walked off the field visibly frustrated late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 31–28 victory over the Cowboys. 

Green Bay held possession with 1:38 to play in the fourth during a game that was tied at 28. After two runs and an incompletion, the Packers punted the ball away from their own 42-yard line on 4th and 1 with 22 seconds to play. Rodgers approached the sideline and made his feelings known to coach Matt LaFleur in a video that was caught by the cameras.

Rodgers addressed the dispute between himself and LaFleur in the postgame press conference. When asked what he was upset about, he made sure to answer the question directly.

“Just every single play call probably,” Rodgers said, per USA Today’s Ryan Wood. “Felt like we were 30 yards from winning the game in regulation.”

LaFleur was asked about the end of the fourth quarter and the exchange between himself and Rodgers and shouldered the brunt of the blame for how the end of regulation was handled.

“Indecision,” LaFleur said when asked about the conservative playcalling. 

“A lot of times when we get in those situations, we give Aaron a lot of freedom to run the show. Today, he does a great job with it. So hindsight is 20–20. That’s on me,” he said, per Wood.

But now that the Packers are 4–6 and picked up a key home win against the Cowboys, Rodgers was able to look at things a bit more optimistically.

“Last week was definitely a low, rock bottom-ish for sure … I felt like it was only up from there. … A lot of demons were exorcised today,” he said, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.

There is a big difference between being 3–7 and being 4–6, and Green Bay now has a fighting chance to get themselves back into the playoff hunt. The Packers welcome the Titans to Lambeau Field on Thursday night in another pivotal showdown on a short week.

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Mike McDaniel
MIKE MCDANIEL

Mike McDaniel is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where he has worked since January 2022. His work has been featured at InsideTheACC.com, SB Nation, FanSided and more. McDaniel hosts the Hokie Hangover Podcast, covering Virginia Tech athletics, as well as Basketball Conference: The ACC Football Podcast. Outside of work, he is a husband and father, and an avid golfer.