The LaFleur brothers are about to share a very different kind of sideline.
With the Arizona Cardinals set for joint practices against the Green Bay Packers, Mike LaFleur and Matt LaFleur will face off as head coaches in a setting that has already produced plenty of family banter. Asked recently how often the brothers talk, Mike leaned into the moment with a joke.
“We talk a lot. Him and I talk ne less time than we talk to our wives …get than on camera,” Mike said via ESPN's Rob Demovsky.
The younger LaFleur also sounded eager for the whole scene, especially the atmosphere that comes with working in Green Bay. He pointed to the kids’ bikes, the community feel and the turnout the Packers draw when teams come in for joint work.
“It's a cool place. They got the bikes with the kids and stuff like that, and that's for a cool cause for the locals.
And so we'll do that too, just like a lot of the other teams do when they joint [practice]. And then there's a ton of fans there.
I mean, it's Green Bay. What else you gonna do?”
Mike said.
The brothers have history beyond this week’s setup. They coached together with the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 and 2016 before going their separate ways, and the competitive edge still shows through when they talk about facing each other now.
Matt made that clear when he was asked about the joint practice with his brother. He said the work comes first, but he also didn’t shy away from the family angle.
“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 said. “I think it's going to be pretty special, but at the end of the day, we're just looking to try to get good work on both sides.
Certainly, always going to prioritize the Green Bay Packers but if there is another team in the National Football League that I'll be rooting for, it will be the Arizona Cardinals.”
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