Friday LaFleur: Bigger Role for Deguara?

Including the outlook for tight end Josiah Deguara, here’s what Packers coach Matt LaFleur had to say before the third practice of training camp on Friday, July 28.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For five years, Marcedes Lewis was the leader of the Green Bay Packers’ tight ends room. With “Big Dog” – the oldest non-quarterback starter in the NFL last season – unsigned, Josiah Deguara is the grand old man at a position group that includes two high-profile rookies.

“I’m only 26, so I really don’t feel that old,” Deguara said after Thursday’s practice.

Deguara and fellow fourth-year player Tyler Davis are 26. An important role player the past two seasons, Deguara has just six career starts under his belt and 39 receptions on his resume.

Could he have a bigger role this year after catching just 13 passes in 17 games last year?

“I think absolutely,” LaFleur said on Friday. “He’s a guy that has a lot of versatility in terms of whether he’s in the backfield, whether he’s in a wing position, we can split him out, so it’s just him getting those opportunities and then taking advantage of them.”

There’s no replacing Lewis on the field or in the locker room. Lewis was a revered leader during his time in Green Bay who took the role of being a mentor seriously.

“The No. 1 thing is just gratitude,” Deguara said. “Try to relay that to them and just be grateful for being here each and every day. When you’re a young guy, you don’t really get it. Even me, being in one spot for all four years is a blessing. I’m just grateful to show up here every day. …

“It’s definitely a change, there’s no doubt about it. I’m trying to step up as a leader because I had Big Dog and Bobby [Robert Tonyan] the first three years of my career and now I’m the oldest guy in the room. I’m the leader and I’m trying to step into that position with Tyler and trying to lead these young guys and do as many good things as we’ve done the last few years, continue that tradition and continue the standard in the room.”

Here are some other quotes from LaFleur before Friday’s closed-to-the-public practice. The team will practice in front of the fans again on Saturday. After an off-day on Sunday, the team will go in pads for the first time on Monday.

Friday’s practice will be done at a jog-through tempo to keep the players fresh. That’s after two days. LaFleur played and coached in the era of two-a-days. How did we get to this point?

“I think there’s so much information now. You can use it however you want. Certainly, there’s definitely some benefit to try to power through but I firmly believe that for us to be at our best, we need everybody available. So, it kind of mitigates the risk of injury a little bit. I still think as long as our guys are intentional about their work, you can still get a lot out of the periods and a lot out of the practice. There’ll be a time to push through, especially in the next couple weeks.”

Is there a timeline to settle the right tackle battle between Yosh Nijman and Zach Tom?

“I think you’ve got to let it happen naturally, let it happen organically, and hopefully that the way the schedule’s set up now with having two weeks before, from the last preseason game until your first game, hopefully that gives us enough time. And these guys, we’re doing a lot of shuffling of the offensive line, so I think there’s enough time basically to figure it out along the way.”

After Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was injured on Thursday, LaFleur sent a text to Bengals coach Zac Taylor. The Packers and Bengals have a joint practice before their Aug. 11 preseason game and LaFleur hopes Burrow will be on the field. He will not, though.

“Certainly, we’re looking forward to him being in there. He’s one of the elite quarterbacks in the National Football League. I just love how the guy competes. We saw first-hand, I want to say was it two years ago when we played them, he is as tough as they come. I remember that shot he took, I thought he definitely was going to be out of the game and then he’s in there the next series. I was like, ‘Man, they don’t make too many guys like this.’ Certainly, I hope he’s OK because you never want to see that with any player, let alone a guy the stature of Joe Burrow.”

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