GREEN BAY — Their offense enters Week 9 tied for fifth in the 32-team NFL in scoring, seventh in total offense and second in third-down conversion success rate.

Not that you’d know it from listening to Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love on Wednesday.

The Green Bay Packers head coach and his quarterback were lamenting the offense’s first-half performance in last Sunday night’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers — and vowing to be better this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field.

“It’s very annoying. No, it’s frustrating,” LaFleur said, referring to three three-and-out possessions against the Steelers during that first half, when Pittsburgh built a 16-7 lead before the Packers scored on five straight second-half possessions (three touchdowns, two field goals) en route to the 35-25 victory.

“It’s frustrating when you know there’s opportunities there and you don’t convert. Third down/ There’s a reason that every team in the league right now is under 50% [conversion rate]. It’s just in those third-and- manageable situations, you’ve got to come through.”

In truth, the only team converting third downs at a higher clip is the Los Angeles Charters, who have a 48.67% conversion rate to the Packers’ 48.28% rate — a big reason why the Packers are averaging 27.6 points per game and 359.1 yards per game. 

The Panthers defense is ranked 25th in third-down defense, allowing a 42.11% conversion rate. For comparison, the Packers defense is fifth in the league, allowing a 34.04% completion rate.

“Anytime you go three-and-out, it just feels like you’re barely on the field. It feels like you didn’t do anything. You definitely didn’t help the defense out at all,” said Love, who has completed 33 of 58 passes (56.9%) for 565 yards with four touchdowns, two interceptions and four sacks (98.7 rating) on third downs.

“I think for us, as talented as we are on offense, I think it’s just disappointing anytime you go three-and-out. It could be so many different factors — whether it’s penalties moving you back, or just not executing the plays right, or a defense just having good calls and them executing on a better level than you — but whatever the factor is, it’s always disappointing.”

Trap game? | Coming off an emotional win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and former Packers four-time NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and with a prime-time “Monday Night Football” matchup looming with the defending Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday’s game against the up-and-down Panthers would seem like the textbook definition of a “trap game.”

But LaFleur was having none of that Wednesday.

“I’m not worried about it [being a trap game],” LaFleur said. “We’ve got enough to worry about just within ourselves and a lot of growth in front of us. If we want to play our best football, we should only be worried about today and this game and nothing else outside of that.”

Wearing their Sunday best | The Packers will unveil their 1923 throwback uniforms — complete with their hand-painted helmets made to look like the leather helmets of the era — for Sunday’s game.

“They’re interesting,” Love said of the helmet design. “I think they’re something different, [and it’s] a cool little opportunity to rock a different uniform. I think here we don’t stray too much from the green and gold, so wearing the navy blue and brown, it’s a little bit different. But let’s do it.”

Health watch | Defensive end Lukas Van Ness (foot), wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks (calf) and linebacker/core special-teams player Nick Niemann (pectoral) were the only three players on the 53-man roster who did not practice Wednesday.

LaFleur said Van Ness, who suffered the injury when he sacked Cincinnati quarterback Joe Flacco during the second half of the Packers’ Oct. 12 win over the Bengals, is still “day-to-day,” making him unlikely to play Sunday

Niemann is thought to have a torn pec, an injury that would sideline him for multiple weeks.

Meanwhile, LaFleur said he “wouldn’t count on” running back MarShawn Lloyd, on injured reserve since the end of training camp with a hamstring injury, returning to practice “anytime soon.”

On the bright side, wide receiver Jayden Reed, on injured reserve after breaking his collarbone in Week 2, was at practice catching balls off the JUGS machine and wearing his helmet.

Just how soon he might be able to return to action is hard to know, but it was an encouraging sign.

“Anytime we see J-Reed out there, we’re excited,” Love said. “We’re excited to hopefully get him back soon. He’s definitely putting in the work with rehab and trying to come back, but definitely it’s a process for him trying to get back and heal. But it’s nice to see him.”

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