Matt LaFleur took the blame for the team’s Week 1 performance. However, Aaron Rodgers encouraged patience following the Vikings’ 23-7 victory in Minnesota. In a contest in which the Packers averaged 6.7 yards per pass attempt and seemed to stray too far from the one effective unit, LaFleur delivered a candid evaluation of his own performance as a play-caller.
LaFleur stated, “Obviously, that wasn’t very good. I’ll start with that. I need to prepare the lads and have a better plan for the squad.” But by the time postgame rolled around, Aaron Rodgers, who had been obviously agitated as the Packers struggled offensively, appeared to have calmed down a little.
Rodgers remarked, “We had a lot of chances today. We could not penetrate the Vikings’ defense, but myself included, we frequently hurt ourselves. I had several chances to get much more than seven points.” Both sides are telling the truth: the Packers played extremely passively and tested the defense too early.
