Locker room instability creates decisive moment for LaFleur's tenure with the Packers

When Matt LaFleur decided to retain defensive coordinator Joe Barry last offseason, he put a major target on his own back. The NFL is a results-based operation, and when things go south, every detail is overanalyzed, every misstep is bigger. When a head coach doesn't put his team or a unit in position to succeed, […]

Wendell Ferreira — NFL News Writer
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Matt LaFleur
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

When Matt LaFleur decided to retain defensive coordinator Joe Barry last offseason, he put a major target on his own back. The NFL is a results-based operation, and when things go south, every detail is overanalyzed, every misstep is bigger. When a head coach doesn't put his team or a unit in position to succeed, he risks the entire operation, hiding to a certain degree what he does well.

And let's be clear: there are two types of accountability. The Jaire Alexander's suspension has nothing to do with performance. The coin toss fiasco is one last straw in what appears to be a fractured relationship. The fact that Barry doesn't deliver the results fans expect has nothing to do with how a professional athlete should behave.

"It's never for one thing," LaFleur said of the suspension on Wednesday. "But like I said, I think there's a lot of lessons along the way from everybody involved."

But it's a series of locker room tensions, and the moment couldn't be worse for that. There are two conclusions to take. First, every one of them has happened on the defensive side of the ball. And two, this is a defining moment for Matt LaFleur as a locker room leader.

Going downhill

Excluding the Brett Rypien game when the Packers beat the Los Angeles Rams, and Rypien played so bad that he ended up being cut, Joe Barry's defense is 32nd in weighted DVOA — this a metric that takes opposition into consideration to measure performance, and the "weighted" part means that the recent performances have more weight to consider recent success. That's how bad the Packers defense has been lately.

That shouldn't be a reason for professional players to make things like what Jaire Alexander did, and those are two separate issues.

But you know how the NFL works. When a team is losing, or a unit is playing poorly, everyone involved becomes stressed. Sometimes, little inconveniences become great topics of discussion. And there have been several distractions on the defensive side.

The Jaire suspension is the last one. But before that, there was the De'Vondre Cambpell controversy. He went on social media to say he was playing hurt and wouldn't anymore — then he, in fact, didn't practice last week and didn't face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. He didn't practice again on Wednesday, and maybe he will miss the Vikings game as well because of a neck injury.

And, obviously, the Joe Barry situation is also a big topic of discussion. Matt LaFleur has already had to answer about his coordinator's job security, and Barry's status is a big conversation around Green Bay.

Jaire Alexander's situation in particular is important because he is a locker room leader, one of the most experienced, talented, and highest-paid players on the roster. Offensive leader Aaron Jones, for example, went on social media to express support.

It's clearly not the ideal situation in the week of the most important game of the season.

Leadership style

When Matt LaFleur arrived in Green Bay in 2019, he preached a "player-led culture." And that roster had several veteran leaders: Aaron Rodgers, David Bakhtiari, Marcedes Lewis, Davante Adams, Jimmy Graham, Jamaal Williams, Za'Darius and Preston Smith, Tramon Williams, among others.

Right now, most of them are gone, and Bakhtiari is hurt. It's the youngest roster in the NFL, a situation that has forced Matt LaFleur to be more proactive in terms of leadership.

With so many young players, so much inexperience, the coaching staff has to have a bigger role guiding the team. And when a shaky moment like this happens, it's their responsibility to keep everything afloat.

Maybe that's what they are trying to do by suspending Jaire Alexander. Maybe it's not just a message to the cornerback, but to the entire team.

If it will work or not, time will tell. But how the Packers navigate the last two weeks of the season will be a strong indicator of Matt LaFleur's ability to lead a young team.

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