Matt LaFleur finally addresses Jayden Reed situation and gives insight into how the Packers will handle the wide receiver room
Managing the wide receiver room has been laborious for head coach Matt LaFleur. Since Davante Adams got traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, the Green Bay Packers have had several young pieces with similar production and varied roles within the offense.This year, the team made even higher investments in the position, taking Matthew […]
Managing the wide receiver room has been laborious for head coach Matt LaFleur. Since Davante Adams got traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, the Green Bay Packers have had several young pieces with similar production and varied roles within the offense.
This year, the team made even higher investments in the position, taking Matthew Golden in the first and Savion Williams in the third round. And that created what can be seen as an uncomfortable situation for Jayden Reed, motivating the third-year player to check with his agent asking for clarity.
Head coach Matt LaFleur talked about the topic for the first time since Adam Schefter's report, and he doesn't seem worried about how Reed will operate.
"The first time I saw that, it was a surprise to me, because he never once said a word to me. So that's all I can really speak on," LaFleur said on 'Chris Simms Unbuttoned'. "But certainly, you have communication with all our guys, and I tell them all the time, it's about the collection of that whole room and what you're going to bring to the table. And he's a guy that, he's had two years of a lot of production for us. So just my encouragement to him is to continue to lead that room, because he's done a great job of that."
Jayden Reed was the most productive wide receiver for the Packers in each of his first two seasons in the NFL. Now, despite the awkward situation, he intends to be a locker room leader as well as an impactful player on the field.
"He's one of the guys out there, I mean, he's out there the other day at practice when we're doing some of our drills, and he's coaching up Matthew Golden," LaFleur revealed. "He's a guy I don't worry about, he's going to go out there, he's going to compete, he's going to compete at a high level, he's going to bring up everybody around him as well."
Matt LaFleur has obviously an offensive background. But as a head coach, being just an offensive designer and playcaller is not enough. He has to manage the locker room and make sure that his players are engaged.
"I just think you gotta be open and honest with everybody on your team, I think you avoid a lot of that," LaFleur explained. "So certainly I think it's not always the easiest, you've got 53 men on your roster, you've got another 16 on your practice squad that all have their own hopes and aspirations. But how can they wrap that around the team success. Fortunately I think Gutey and his staff do such a great job of vetting these guys and bringing in high-character people, because at the end of the day these guys have a choice to buy into the team or to buy into individual success, and we've been really fortunate to get a lot of guys into our building that are all about the team, and I hope that continues."
Over 33 games for the Packers, Jayden Reed has had 119 receptions for 1,650 yards and 14 touchdown catches. He's entering his third season, and this one is particularly important because it's the last one before Reed gets eligible to sign his first contract extension in the NFL.
Adam Schefter sparks discussion about Packers wide receiver group, and it leads to a bigger question that still needs an answer
How will Jayden Reed and Matthew Golden play together is a big discussion
