Packer Central

Vomit, Sweat and Tears: Josh Myers, O-Line Power Packers Past Colts

Without Jordan Love, the Green Bay Packers rode one of their best rushing days in franchise history to beat the Colts 16-10 on Sunday.  Afterward, the emotions got the best of Josh Myers.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers (71) talks to his teammates before their game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers (71) talks to his teammates before their game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. / Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – On third-and-10 in the second quarter, Green Bay Packers center Josh Myers turned to his left, puked, snapped the ball and blocked Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Tyquan Lewis all within a span of about 1 second.

On the play, quarterback Malik Willis scrambled to the right for a gain of 3.

On the sideline, coach Matt LaFleur had a simple question for the quarterback who the team had acquired merely 20 days earlier.

“I asked Malik why he didn’t throw the ball on third down, and he told me that, ‘Josh threw up on the ball,” LaFleur said. “I was like, ‘That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.’”

That wasn’t Myers’ intention.

“I leaned over. I didn’t get it on the … I don’t think I got it on the ball,” Myers said.

Told what LaFleur had just said, Myers replied:

“Did I? I did? I tried to lean over,” Myers said. “Dang, I’m going to have apologize for that one. That was probably pretty gross.”

Yeah, probably.

“(Referee) Shawn (Hochuli) came over to me and said, ‘We saw your center throwing up on the ball, do you want us to take him out next time?’” LaFleur said. “I said, ‘Absolutely, please do that.’ Because you’re talking about a critical situation, and it’s third down, and I’ve never had a throw with vomit on a football. I think Malik probably didn’t appreciate that.”

The vomit was part of a hard day’s work for Green Bay’s offensive line.

It was 85 degrees at kickoff, tying it for the second-hottest home game in franchise history. The fate of the team boiled down entirely to the offensive line’s ability to clear paths for Josh Jacobs and Green Bay’s run game.

“I challenged them the other day,” LaFleur said. “We had a shaky day at practice, I think on Wednesday, and I went in there and said, ‘Hey, we’re winning this game through you guys,’ and I thought they stepped up.”

With all 77,827 fans in attendance knowing the Packers were going to run the ball to lessen the burden on Willis, they ran for 261 yards. It was the 17th-best rushing day in franchise history. It was tied for the team’s fourth-best performance in the Super Bowl era and was the team’s most since 262 rushing yards against Denver in 2003, according to Stathead.

Appropriately, left guard Elgton Jenkins – who threw up a few times when coming off the field after one series – was wearing a bulldozer shirt. Because that was Green Bay’s offensive line, especially in the first half, when the Packers rushed for 237 yards on the way to a 10-0 lead.

“Honestly, when we got 150 in the first, I was like, ‘Let’s go for 300, 400,’” Jenkins said. “It’s definitely good, just being able to get those yards and be productive like that. I feel like the sky’s the limit for us as a team, us as an offensive line. We’ve got to keep building off this win.”

Jacobs carried 32 times for 151 yards. During the LaFleur era, the carries were by far the most (Aaron Jones had 25 vs. Detroit in 2019) and Jacobs trailed only Jones’ 168 yards vs. Detroit in 2020 and 154 yards vs. Minnesota in 2019.

“Whenever I see holes consistently, and see holes consistent like they gave today, it always makes me excited because it allows me to create and allows me to be the player that I want to be,” Jacobs said.

“So, if I come through and I'm like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got a hole,’ but I got to make a guy miss and now I'll be able to showcase what I feel like they brought me here for. And that's the things I get excited. It's definitely complimentary football.”

The 53 carries were the most by the Packers since 1978.

“We kind of knew we didn’t have a choice, right?” Myers said. “As an offensive line coming in, we knew we were going to run the ball 50-plus times. Matt challenged us very early on in the week. He challenged our group and said it was going to go through us, and I feel like we answered that challenge and had a solid day, man. That was some grimy football right there. That was a lot of fun.”

Afterward, as Myers took the braces off his knees, LaFleur stopped at his locker. They embraced. They talked. They embraced again. They talked some more. They embraced again.

Myers’ father passed away recently. The sadness, the heat, the exhaustion, the emotions – it all was overwhelming.

“It means a ton to me, man,” Myers said. He then fought back tears for more than 10 seconds.

“He’s,” Myers tried to say before having to pause again, “been there for me big since my dad passed. I can’t thank him enough. He’s been there big time.”

In that light, with the offensive line helping the Packers overcome the odds without Love, this victory was incredibly meaningful for Myers.

“It means the world, man,” he said. “I love this game so much. I feel the closest to my dad when I’m playing. So, it’s awesome. It felt great.”

What would his dad have said in a postgame victory phone call?

“I know he’d say he loves me and he’s proud of me,” Myers said.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.