Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur was more interested in talking about his team’s future than his own a day after the biggest playoff collapse in the franchise’s storied history.
How long the two are connected remains uncertain.
LaFleur said Sunday that he spoke briefly with team president and CEO Ed Policy on the flight back to Green Bay after the Packers’ 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in an NFC Wild-Card playoff game Saturday night. LaFleur expected to meet with Policy again either later Sunday night or Monday.
But he declined to comment on whether he expected to keep his job after the Packers (9-8-1) made their third straight playoff appearance but lost their final five games.
“That’s not the focus right now, to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “We’re fresh off this loss. My sole focus is on our players, our team and just trying to find ways to get better.”
The Packers became the fourth team in NFL history to lose a playoff game after leading by at least 15 points to start the fourth quarter. Green Bay led 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 after the third period.
LaFleur reiterated Sunday how much he wants to keep the job he’s had for the last seven seasons.
“This is one of one,” LaFleur said. “I love this place.”
LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst have one year remaining on their contracts. Policy said last summer he would prefer not to have his coach and GM enter the final year of their contracts without extensions, saying it “creates a lot of issues.”
That seemingly makes extending LaFleur’s contract or firing him the most likely options.
LaFleur was asked Sunday if he believed it could be feasible to return next season without an extension, or whether his contract status would cause too many distractions.
“That’s not my focus right now,” LaFleur said. “Those conversations will be had in a very short period of time.”
LaFleur also was asked why he believes he’s the right coach to get Green Bay over the hump.
“I don’t think those are questions for me,” LaFleur said. “Like I said, I think my sole focus is just trying to find solutions to some of our issues and why things went awry yesterday. And you know, it’s disappointing. I’m as disappointed, obviously, as, as all you guys, as our fans, as everybody in our organization, because we had plenty of opportunities to slam the door shut and we didn’t get it done.”
Green Bay is 76-40-1 in the regular season but 3-6 in the playoffs under LaFleur. The Packers have made six postseason appearances in LaFleur’s seven seasons.
The Packers led by at least nine points in the second half of four of their eight losses this season, and they also squandered an early 13-0 advantage in a 40-40 tie at Dallas. LaFleur said at his postgame news conference Saturday that “we’ve just got to do a better job of keeping our composure as a football team,” specifically in critical moments.
LaFleur clarified those comments Sunday by saying he believed Green Bay’s issues were more from a lack of execution than a lack of composure. He said the execution problems came from coaching decisions as well as from players’ actions.
He also discussed what the Packers could do differently to avoid a similar fate next season, assuming he returns.
“I think we have to look at everything, from how we train to how we practice,” LaFleur said. “These are conversations that I’ve already had with some of our people. Just trying to find maybe different ways to do things but those are all the conversations that are ongoing right now, just taking all the data that we have, comparing to other teams or whatever it may be.”