With their Green Bay-to-Phoenix flight delayed by mechanical problems that forced them to wait for a new plane to transport them to Sunday’s matchup with the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur did something he’d never done before:
He put his offense through a walkthrough on the tarmac at Austin Straubel International Airport on Saturday afternoon.
With one of the two team planes having departed on time at 1:15 p.m.— the one carrying staff and the team’s position coaches — LaFleur, his coordinators and his players found themselves marooned in Titletown until Delta airlines could swap out their scheduled plane with a different one.
Knowing the nearly six-hour delay would wreak havoc with their normal night-before-a-game plans at their hotel in the Phoenix area, LaFleur decided to put the time to good use by hauling the offensive players off the plane to walk through plays together.
While defensive end Rashan Gary said the defensive players didn’t deplane, the offensive guys ran through their plays with LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich.
“We typically do it when we get here. Obviously, we got in a little bit later than we’d like to,” LaFleur recounted after the team’s 27-23 win over the Cardinals. “We did a walk-through — what do you even call that area? Tarmac? Is that what it’s called? I’m a football coach, so I don’t know what that word means — right on the tarmac there in Green Bay as we were sitting there waiting.
“Typically, we do this at the hotel where we have a 15-play walk-through. It was myself and Steno and our guys, and those guys did a hell of a job.”
LaFleur said he ultimately felt the delay was good for team camaraderie and that the players didn’t bellyache about the less-than-ideal schedule.
“The thing that was so cool about our guys, I didn’t hear anybody complain the whole time we were sitting there. They were just hanging out, watching ball, enjoying each other’s company,” LaFleur said. “It takes a resilient group to do that. It’s easy to want to complain about the situation but, like I told them, the situation’s the situation. It really doesn’t matter. All that matters is how you respond to it. Our guys handled it the right way.”
From ‘flu game’ to ‘calf game for Jacobs? | A week after putting up 150 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in a win over Cincinnati despite vomiting before, during and after the game, running back Josh Jacobs had another challenge Sunday: Proving to the medial staff that he could play with a calf injury that cropped up on Friday at practice.
Jacobs went through a relatively rigorous pre-game workout for the medical and athletic training staffs at State Farm Stadium before getting the green light to play limited snaps against the Cardinals. Jacobs wound up carrying the ball 13 times for 55 yards and having two rushing TDs for the third consecutive game.
“This organization, they do a really good job of protecting the players. They didn’t really want me to play today,” Jacobs said after the game. “It was one of them things where I kind of had to convince them. At the end of the day, I feel like you’ve also got to know who you’re talking to. I’m one of those guys, man, if I feel like I can [play] and I’m not going to hurt the team by trying to play, I’m going to play then.”
Room for two kickers? | Knowing he wouldn’t have wanted a lengthy soliloquy/pep talk himself in such a situation, Packers kicker Brandon McManus kept it short with his fill-in, Lucas Havrisik, before last week’s win over Cincinnati.
“Go make yourself some money.” McManus said he told Havrisik.
Havrisik has done that and more in his two games kicking in McManus’ stead with McManus still recovering from a quadriceps injury to his right (kicking) leg. After going 5-for-5 on kicks against the Bengals (43- and 39-yard field goals, plus three extra points), Havrisik was even better — and made history — against the Cardinals.
Havrisik once again went 5-for-5, again making three extra points and two field goals. Only this time, he made a 31-yarder for the Packers’ first points of the day and followed that up with a franchise-record 61-yarder on the final play for the first half.
The 61-yarder was 3 yards longer than the Packers’ previous record, a 58-yarder by Mason Crosby, and 4 yards longer than any field goal Havrisik had made in his life.
“I’ve had so much perseverance and resiliency. Praise the Lord,” Havrisik said afterward. “It’s been a journey for sure.”
Where that journey takes him next remains to be seen. But given how good he’s been the Packers might need to consider carrying him on the roster even after McManus is medically cleared to return to kicking.
Having signed a three-year, $15.3 million deal in March to return to the Packers after joining them midway through the 2024 season, McManus isn’t going anywhere. But Havirisik is looking like a luxury and, perhaps, a tradeable asset if they hold onto him even after McManus comes back.
“That’s a hell of a question,” LaFleur said when asked if the Packers can keep two kickers. “He’s answered every challenge that’s been put in front of him. We don’t win that game without his ability to go out and make all his attempts. … He’s done a hell of a job.”
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