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Andrew Whitworth Emphatically Praised Matt LaFleur Rebuild Post-Aaron Rodgers
There have been plenty of Matt LaFleur doubters in recent years, especially after quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the Green Bay Packers for the New York Jets in 2023.
Andrew Whitworth went off on quite the fiery rant during Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football pregame show regarding LeFleur's successes in comparison to the failures, per se, of the Packers team members who have moved on from the team, such as former quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy, former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and Rodgers.
"It wasn't that long ago we were talking about 'Who is Matt LaFleur when Aaron Rodgers leaves the Green Bay Packers?'" Whitworth said. "Well, Luke Getsy's been fired twice, Nathaniel Hackett's failed twice and Aaron Rodgers has four wins in two years as a Jet. Matt LaFleur, at worst, has nine wins two seasons in a row. He's won a playoff game. I think we know exactly who Matt LaFleur is, and that's a hell of a football coach."
Well, he's not wrong.
Getsy joined the Chicago Bears as their offensive coordinator in Jan. 2022, but was fired in January 2024. Then, he was fired on Nov. 3 by the Las Vegas Raiders as their OC. After Hackett left in 2021, he went on to coach the Denver Broncos but was canned before the end of the 2022 season. He currently works with Rodgers on the Jets as their OC, but he was recently stripped of his play calling duties by interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
Rodgers left the Packers after the 2022 season, but only played in one drive during the '23 season after he tore his Achilles. He's finally been able to play this season, but he's posted a 3–9 record, as Whitworth alluded to. His stint in New York is continuously seen as a failure.
When thinking of these aspects, it definitely seems like LaFleur "won" the breakup. We'll see how the Packers end up this season.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.