GREEN BAY - Matt LaFleur and Mike LaFleur spent a formative year together in Atlanta, and it was a season that left a mark on both brothers.
Matt was already carrying major responsibility as Kyle Shanahan’s quarterbacks coach with the Falcons, but Atlanta also had Mike on staff as an offensive assistant. Mike was seven years younger, and by that point Matt had already been around the offense tree that grew out of Washington with Shanahan, Sean McVay and Mike McDaniel.
Even with that family tie, Mike’s arrival in Atlanta wasn’t simply a favor from his older brother. He had spent a year in Cleveland as an intern when Shanahan was there, and he had also gotten to know Shanahan earlier while recruiting the Washington area as a college assistant.
The year in Atlanta was demanding, and Matt said it was exactly the kind of environment that helped shape Mike’s path.
“That was a rough year for him,” LaFleur said prior to his team’s joint practice with the Cardinals on Aug. 26.
“He was an offensive quality control (assistant). He was working with the receivers at that time.
But he definitely heard a lot from me. And Kyle on top of that.
“So, it starts at the top. Kyle is hard on everybody, but I think that’s why he has been so successful because he demands a lot out of you, and you’re always trying to please him and get his approval. But it was always a compounding effect because if Mike screwed something up, he (Shanahan) would get mad at me and then I’d go get mad at Mike, and then he’d get mad at Mike.”
Mike LaFleur said the experience was valuable because the brothers were working side by side in a way they hadn’t since childhood.
“It was a great learning experience,” Mike LaFleur said before practice. “He went off to college when I was in fifth grade, so that was the first time as adults, with wives - we had just had our first daughter - it was a different time in our lives.
“We got to spend every single day together. We hadn’t done that since we were kids.
There was a learning curve there. We grew a lot as far as learning to work together and ended up having a pretty special year.”
From there, the paths kept moving. Shanahan left for San Francisco and took Mike with him as passing game coordinator and receivers coach. Matt followed Sean McVay to the Rams as offensive coordinator before becoming the Packers’ head coach within two years.
Mike’s road took a different turn. When Robert Saleh left San Francisco for the Jets, he brought Mike along as offensive coordinator. After he was fired following the ’22 season, there were rumors he might join Matt in Green Bay, but Mike said it never got serious and that only a 5-minute conversation took place.
Instead, Mike joined McVay in Los Angeles as offensive coordinator and spent three seasons there before the Cardinals hired him as head coach.
Matt said he even pushed his brother a couple of years ago to start getting ready for that next step.
“It seems like everybody who comes through L.A. has an opportunity to become a head coach,” Matt LaFleur said. “Sean does a great job.
He gives you so much insight. I think that was so valuable for both of us because he will lean on the people he’s closest with and you get some insight you might not get in every situation.”
The Packers won’t face the Cardinals in the regular season, so the joint practice won’t create any competitive edge in the standings. Still, it does give the older brother a chance to share a little perspective with the younger one - and maybe get some back in return.
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Jordan Love Called This Cardinals Practice Moment His Lowest Point
A joint practice with the Cardinals gave the Packers a useful tune-up, but it also left Jordan Love with one sequence he would rather forget. After getting down to the five-yard line, Green Bay came away empty on that series, and Love pointed to it as the low point of the day. For a quarterback and offense still sharpening timing in August, those are the kinds of snaps that tend to linger longer than the cleaner ones.
Tucker Kraft also came out of the session with a moment worth monitoring, taking a late hit after returning from a torn ACL. The good news for Green Bay is that Kraft said he is playing without concern for his knee, a reassuring note as the Packers turn from practice to their preseason game against Arizona. For a team trying to build momentum while protecting key pieces, the next few days will matter just as much as the work already put in. [Read more 🡒]
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Two Dolphins names to keep an eye on are Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Jaylen Wright, both of whom could fit the Packers search for depth in spots where competition is still unsettled. Green Bay does not need splashy moves this time of year as much as it needs practical ones, and a familiar pipeline to Miami could give the front office another route to fill out the roster if the right opportunity opens up. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Pass Rush Already Has A Roster Question Fans Cant Ignore
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Chris Braswell of the Buccaneers is one name to watch if he becomes available, and he fits the kind of waiver claim Green Bay would have reason to explore. The Packers do not need another reminder that pass rush depth matters over a long season, especially with Parsons unavailable and the competition behind him still sorting itself out. For now, the question is less about one opening-day role and more about whether Green Bay can find a usable answer before the market closes. [Read more 🡒]