Matt LaFleur is treating Wednesday’s Packers-Cardinals joint practice with a little humor and a clear message: keep the tempers in check.
The Packers coach, in his eighth year on the job, knows the setting could get a little spicy. Fights are part of life at joint practices around the NFL, but this one comes with an unusual twist because his brother, Mike LaFleur, is now in his first season as the Cardinals’ head coach.
That led to a joke from Matt about what might happen if things boil over.
“If there’s an issue, I’m going to tell the guys, ‘Hey, you come tag me in. They can tag in my brother. And we’ll throw down on the 50,’” Matt LaFleur said Monday, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
Matt said he’s been talking to his players about keeping emotions under control for the session. At the same time, he admitted the family dynamic has made the planning a little more entertaining than usual.
“He’s quick to criticize everything that I put on the schedule,” Matt said. “So, he’s like, ‘Why are we doing this?
Why are we doing that? We never do this.’
And I was like, ‘All right, Mike, you’ve got all the answers.’ Nah, it’s been healthy, it’s been good.
There’s been give-and-take on both sides for sure.”
However the practice goes, Matt LaFleur said the chance to share the field with his brother will be “pretty special.” Even if there’s no dust-up before the whistle, he said it figures to be a memorable day for the family.
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