hats on and just

go to work and try to improve every single day and try to get better at something small every single day together, try to practice as much as they possibly can, right? Like make it a point to be on the field so that you get those reps next to the guy that, you're going to play with because that's how you build that trust.

That's how you build that continuity.

That's how you build that togetherness with each other.

You're counting on this guy.

This guy can count on you and all those things and that friendship.

Those are things that people, I guess, maybe don't think about much, but when you feel like you don't want to let down one of your best friends you're playing next to, The heightened awareness and your urgency goes up.

and

hats on and just

go to work and try to improve every single day and try to get better at something small every single day together, try to practice as much as they possibly can, right? Like make it a point to be on the field so that you get those reps next to the guy that, you're going to play with because that's how you build that trust.

That's how you build that continuity.

That's how you build that togetherness with each other.

You're counting on this guy.

This guy can count on you and all those things and that friendship.

Those are things that people, I guess, maybe don't think about much, but when you feel like you don't want to let down one of your best friends you're playing next to, The heightened awareness and your urgency goes up.

and

I don't know what else can you do, or do you have any other solutions?

No, there's no guy out there on the street that's going to come in and solve it.

I've seen people say we need to go pick up this guy or that guy.

That won't solve it, unfortunately.

That's not going to be the...

the magic potion of this thing.

You hit the nail on the head.

three this is happening

I don't know what else can you do, or do you have any other solutions?

No, there's no guy out there on the street that's going to come in and solve it.

I've seen people say we need to go pick up this guy or that guy.

That won't solve it, unfortunately.

That's not going to be the...

the magic potion of this thing.

You hit the nail on the head.

three this is happening

At the same time.

That's the only way that gets defeated by the DB.

So that was really heads up by Golden to essentially force that PI and get that call.

But just overall, I know you just – You kind of said it like the most important thing is the win.

Yes, you're not going to apologize for those.

But that was probably one of the uglier games I've ever watched.

And listen, there's going to be games within a season that aren't pretty, right? And you just kind of like look at it like, hey, you know, that's the NFL.

head coach going, what the hell were you thinking?

How is that acceptable? How do you even have that go through your mind as a rookie in my second game that I'm going to talk trash and cost my team 15 yards?

Yeah, you can't do that.

Well, for that, those types of personal fouls, you pull a guy and you sit him for a little bit.

That's the only way that you, you can, you can do that.

But, um, besides those, the combative penalties, like, you know, the holdings, the PIs, things like that, like, unfortunately, like you just gotta wait for guys to hopefully clean up their technique.

But like the stupid penalties that we're talking about, like personal fouls and taunting and things like that, like that's just, that's just unacceptable.

And like, you have to make that well known within the meeting room and, maybe a cost guy snaps.

so what what message and this is just me like trying to get in the mind of the NFL player right because Matt LaFleur talked about we're going to be aggressive right so as a player do you not know exactly what you're going to get from your coach if it's fourth and one or what you're going to do are we going to go for it if it's we got all this momentum after this big punt return are we going to try to put it in the end zone like is it hard for a player not to know exactly what they're going to get from their coach when it comes to plays like that and it capitalizing on momentum?

How is that acceptable? How do you even have that go through your mind as a rookie in my second game that I'm going to talk trash and cost my team 15 yards?

Yeah, you can't do that.

Well, for that, those types of personal fouls, you pull a guy and you sit him for a little bit.

That's the only way that you, you can, you can do that.

But, um, besides those, the combative penalties, like, you know, the holdings, the PIs, things like that, like, unfortunately, like you just gotta wait for guys to hopefully clean up their technique.

But like the stupid penalties that we're talking about, like personal fouls and taunting and things like that, like that's just, that's just unacceptable.

And like, you have to make that well known within the meeting room and, maybe a cost guy snaps.

so what what message and this is just me like trying to get in the mind of the NFL player right because Matt LaFleur talked about we're going to be aggressive right so as a player do you not know exactly what you're going to get from your coach if it's fourth and one or what you're going to do are we going to go for it if it's we got all this momentum after this big punt return are we going to try to put it in the end zone like is it hard for a player not to know exactly what they're going to get from their coach when it comes to plays like that and it capitalizing on momentum?

What do you make of that idea, that philosophy, and the Packers' lack of execution thus far on finishing games, at least in week one?

Yeah, I mean, this is...

To me, it's like a delicate tightrope that you walk of who's getting the finger pointing at them.

And to me, if you look on both sides of it, if you're on John's side and you say this is coaching, I can't sit here and tell you you're wrong.

I can't sit here and say you're wrong, John.

Sorry, that's not right.

Because there's certainly elements that tell you that Coaching should help get these guys over the line in the fourth quarter.

you have operations or whatever it may be,

What do you make of that idea, that philosophy, and the Packers' lack of execution thus far on finishing games, at least in week one?

Yeah, I mean, this is...

To me, it's like a delicate tightrope that you walk of who's getting the finger pointing at them.

And to me, if you look on both sides of it, if you're on John's side and you say this is coaching, I can't sit here and tell you you're wrong.

I can't sit here and say you're wrong, John.

Sorry, that's not right.

Because there's certainly elements that tell you that Coaching should help get these guys over the line in the fourth quarter.

you have operations or whatever it may be,

Do the Packers know what in the hell they're doing with their offensive line, Brian? Scramble mode.

Yeah, they're in complete scramble mode.

Unfortunately, we just heard this offseason how they probably did the wrong thing with Jordan Morgan by moving him around so much and making him play multiple different positions.

That's stunning his growth and this and that.

It appears like we're going down the same path with Belton right now.

It appears that we're moving him around from position to position.

You said he lost the battle at Family night, essentially, and then he got moved out to tackle, and he's been playing tackle since.

Yeah.

That was not because, oh, he was so well protected until the levy broke in the fourth quarter.

Yeah, that's my biggest question.

They even talked about, or maybe Matt was being coy with it, talking about rotation and this and that and all these things.

I mean, if we saw the way this was going in the first half, why didn't Burton then get put in to take some snaps? While the game was under control, technically, or in control is what we like to call it, for a period of time.

When a guy takes that many snaps in preseason, and Taush, maybe you've seen something different.

Maybe you experienced something different than I did in camp.

But normally when a lineman, especially you're looking at him as maybe a six-man pushing for a starting spot, takes that many snaps and gets that much trust from the coaching staff, That's normally the first guy to go in if something happens.

too.

That was not because, oh, he was so well protected until the levy broke in the fourth quarter.

Yeah, that's my biggest question.

They even talked about, or maybe Matt was being coy with it, talking about rotation and this and that and all these things.

I mean, if we saw the way this was going in the first half, why didn't Burton then get put in to take some snaps? While the game was under control, technically, or in control is what we like to call it, for a period of time.

When a guy takes that many snaps in preseason, and Taush, maybe you've seen something different.

Maybe you experienced something different than I did in camp.

But normally when a lineman, especially you're looking at him as maybe a six-man pushing for a starting spot, takes that many snaps and gets that much trust from the coaching staff, That's normally the first guy to go in if something happens.

too.

In Damascus, yeah.

Like, he d- yeah, stepped on Aaron's calf or he stepped on his hand or something like that, like, the, the reaction was instant.

It wasn't like, "Oh, what happened?" when we came to the sideline.

It was an instant reaction.

Um, and that never...

Like, Sue was w- the way he was.

He pushed boundaries all the time.

Brian, I feel like you deserve the last word whenever you're with T.J. Lang 'cause I don't think you got it necessarily very often.

then

i'd watch the big screen when the play was over to see what happened um when she's saying it's a bum rush every play like what's going on like what are they doing um that's not good like like that like that's that's not good and it and she wasn't wrong that's the that's the part and here's the thing right we we saw this issue in chicago in the playoff game in the second half chicago decided to dial up pressures and they worked and they worked really well and they kept doing it and they kept doing it and we had no answer for it the guy's had no answer for it.

So fast forward, what, five, six months? Here we go.

Week one, Flores.

We know exactly what Flores is going to do.

Um, didn't expect him to do it at a 77% clip, but when it started to work, why wouldn't you keep doing it? And the same issues continued to come up and listen, you're not going to see a Flores type defense every week.

Um, Some teams don't have the personnel to do that.

yeah that's what i'm trying to figure like yeah who does this really like who should we lay blame on for that debacle that we saw with the guys just not being able to stop anything when it comes to the pass rush

[laughs]

Like, like, that, like, that's, that's not good.

And, and it, and she wasn't wrong.

That's the, that's the part...

And here's the thing, right? We, we saw this issue in Chicago in the playoff game in the second half.

Chicago decided to dial up pressures, and they worked, and they worked really well.

And they kept doing it, and they kept doing it, and we had no answer for it.

Like, who should we lay blame on for that debacle that we saw with the guys just not being able to stop anything when it comes to the pass rush?

Brian, do you think Jordan Love is elite?

I think he's very good.

I don't know if he's at the elite level yet.

I think there are certain things you need to accomplish and do as a quarterback to be elite.

um and i'm not sure if he's hit those yet to be honest i mean i i think he's very good and i and i think he can become elite but there are certain things you need to do to become that type of quarterback um that's just that's just not handed out that's not something that's just because and listen with all due respect to matt and obviously i love matt i've played for him and everyone knows that as a coach and as a person, I have so much respect for him.

But just because your coach calls you elite doesn't mean you're elite.

What do you need to see from him? There's a lot of things that, like winning a division, getting into NFC championship games, winning NFC championship games, winning MVPs, doing those things makes you an elite quarterback, winning Super Bowls.

I think your laugh said it all, but what do you got from that?

All right, so how much time have you spent formulating your Boldathon pick? Do you even remember your pick from last year? Because I don't, I have to be honest.

I don't know if I recall it from last year, but I think it was wrong, so that's okay.

I don't know how many people get them right.

I know my first year doing it, I got it right.

I said they'd have to win X amount to get into the playoffs, and they did.

At the final stretch of games, they'd have to win to get into the playoffs, and I was right.

So I felt good about that, and last year was a big swing and a miss.

you're not the main guy.

I have to be honest.

I don't know if I recall it from last year.

Um, uh, but I think it was wrong, so that's okay.

Uh, the, you know, I, I don't know how many are, how many people get them right.

I know my first year doing it, I got it right.

Um, I said they'd have to win X amount to get into the playoffs, and they did.

Like, at the final stretch of games, they'd have to win to get into the playoffs, and I was right So I felt good about that, and last year was a big swing and a miss.

Yep, mm-hmm

Whereas

outside...

Go ahead.

Well, exactly, and that's why...

the great pass rushers set these things up throughout time, like throughout the game.

They set up moves throughout the game to get you, not to lull you asleep, but to get you in a pattern of blocking their up the field rush and their moves up the field.

And you feel confident about that.

And my question is, will it be enough to get it blocked up? With where the offensive line is and where they're at at running back and who might be in the game when, it almost makes me wonder if it's going to be, even if they know what's coming, if they're going to be able to stop it.

at all from your perspective from a rest like did it help you or did you feel the same way when you were a player about like this two week lead up from the end of

preseason it wasn't always this way oh okay No, it used to – when I first got in the league, like, it was that last preseason game, two days of cutdowns, practice Sunday, and you're in the game week on Monday.

Like, that's how it used to be.

And, like, I liked it that way.

Like, you just roll right into it.

Then we – it did transition to the week off, and it just felt like a week for nothing.

And it just dragged on and on and on.

Keep you on

No.

No.

I don't either because they re-signed Kennard and then cut him.

So he didn't even make an impact in camp to stay on the team as another potential swing tackle or emergency tackle.

And we've seen Belton right now taking reps at right tackles, and it just doesn't look good right now.

It just doesn't look good.

He doesn't look good.

got four quarterbacks that they kept.

other things to care about.

Yeah.

I mean, this is just a very interesting situation.

And you mentioned it earlier.

It puts the team in a very tough spot because they have no idea for a return table or timetables and how they can prepare the team.

If he does come back or when he does come back.

And if he does come back, How quickly will he be able to be integrated from a playtime standpoint because he hasn't been doing anything? So he'll be working out and lifting and all that.

when

other things to care about.

Yeah.

I mean, this is just a very interesting situation.

And you mentioned it earlier.

It puts the team in a very tough spot because they have no idea for a return table or timetables and how they can prepare the team.

If he does come back or when he does come back.

And if he does come back, How quickly will he be able to be integrated from a playtime standpoint because he hasn't been doing anything? So he'll be working out and lifting and all that.

when

How much of this needs to be schematic compared to just evaluating your talent against other teams' talent?

No, I mean, I, I, I think that's normally the...

At least the way I took it, that was my first joint session, is the way I looked, is like schematics and all that, that's all obviously important.

You gotta be locked into what you're doing and the calls and all those things and understand your assignments, but at the end of the day, you just wanna go compete against another team's ones and see how your progress is in training camp and, and where you're at, and if you need more of this in practice, do I need more of this once this thing's over? Like what do I need to work on to be ready for week one? And, and from an evaluation standpoint, you couldn't really ask for a better time for this joint session, right? I mean, you know the bulk of your roster, but right, those small decisions that need to get made, you find out a lot about guys right now against another team's, um, ones or maybe twos, whatever it may be.

If you're, if you're trying to figure out bubble players or whatever it may be, or if you're trying to figure out a starting right guard or left guard, this is a really good time to figure those things out, um, and have a pretty clear picture of where your guys are at, and if there is a competition, someone can separate themselves very easily in this session.

[laughs]

If Monk struggles in the first week or two, then we see a rotation at right guard of Burton and Monk, and, and everyone knows my opinion on this.

This does nobody any good, and then you get into this.

... uh, as far as, uh, uh, what the doctor says.

Yeah.

I mean, I, I...

Listen, I, I, think, I think he built off last week's performance, 'cause I think he performed a, well again against Denver, and I think Denver has better pass rushers.

Uh, so to me that means he, he learned from last week's tape, improved during the week, went out and played Denver against better rushers and played well again.

So to me that's very encouraging, um, when, when you're talking about his kind of development throughout the summer and in, in preseason.

And listen, I'm not saying every rep was perfect.

You're expecting some elite, and you'll let us know.