Matt LaFleur Reacts to Aaron Rodgers’ Comments on His Job With Green Bay Packers

Matt LaFleur may not be back to coach the Green Bay Packers in 2026. He and the Packers are reportedly talking about a contract extension and what that may look like, but anything is on the table at this point.

If you took the pulse of the fanbase after the Packers' terrible playoff loss to the Chicago Bears this past weekend, most would have probably told you that they wanted LaFleur gone after that big-game collapse -- which has become a bit of a staple during his time as head coach.

That sentiment may have changed on Monday after the game when multiple players, including team leaders and stars, came out in support of their head coach. It may have flipped altogether when one of his former players, quarterback Aaron Rodgers, also threw his support LaFleur's way.

He didn't have to, of course. Rodgers was taking questions from the media in the initial moments after his Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in their Monday Night Football playoff game.

He was asked about his head coach Mike Tomlin, who stepped down a day later after 19 seasons with the Steelers, and that brought him to the topic of LaFleur.

“I mean, this league has changed a lot in my 21 years,” Rodgers said, per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “You know, when you hear conversation about the Mike Tomlins of the world, Matt LaFleurs of the world. Those are just two that I played for. And when I first got in the league, there wouldn’t be conversations about whether those guys were on the hot seat, but the way that the league is covered now and the way that there’s snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who you make it seem like they know what the hell they’re talking about, to me that’s an absolute joke."

Rodgers went on to say that the fact that both Tomlin and LaFleur were feeling the heat after their respective playoff losses was "really apropos of where we’re at as a society and a league."

He also said that he believes LaFleur has done a lot of great things with the Packers.

The next day, LaFleur responded, though not directly.

“I’m speechless,” LaFleur texted to Schneidman on Tuesday morning. “He didn’t have to do that, but he did. (It’s) one of the nicest compliments (of) my life. I’m so appreciative of him for that.”

While LaFleur and Rodgers' relationship seemed a bit contentious at times, especially in the tough moments, there's clearly a ton of respect left between the legendary quarterback and his former head coach.

LaFleur is 76-40-1 in seven seasons as the Packers head coach, and he's taken the team to the playoffs in six of those seven seasons. His playoff record does leave much to be desired, though.

After the loss to Chicago, it fell to 3-6.

With Rodgers as his quarterback from 2019 through 2021, LaFleur and the Packers went 39-10 with a 2-3 playoff record. That included back-to-back trips to the NFC Championship game in 2019 and 2020.

LaFleur could never get the Packers over the hump, though, and therein lies much of the criticism against him. 

He hasn't gotten past the divisional round in the post-Rodgers era.