Discontent over player roles, not championship drive, fractured the Green Bay Packers. Head coach Matt LaFleur highlights the critical need for buy-in and clear communication.
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur seems to think there was an air of discontent in the locker room in 2025.
It was the wrong kind, too.
There's the kind that can fuel a team. The kind that makes the team and its individual players want to get better day by day. It's the kind of discontent that makes championship teams fight like hell during training camp two-a-days and show the same kind of resolve in the playoffs.
Then there's the discontent that can divide a locker room.
It's the eye rolling when a coach says something. It's the under-the-breath remarks and the lack of buy-in.
That can take down a team at the pee-wee level. In the NFL? It's deadly.
Sadly, that's apparently the type of cancer LaFleur believes the Packers had festering in their locker room last season. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for the five-game losing streak to end the season.
Here in the spring of 2026, LaFleur revealed to the media recently at the NFC coaches breakfast at the NFL Annual Meeting that figuring out how to get complete "buy-in" from players is a conversation at 1265 Lombardi Ave.
"I just think it's gonna take a consistent approach," LaFleur said, according to Wes Hodkiewicz of the team website. "If I'm being honest about it, I think there were some guys that were upset about roles last year, and I think that took a toll on our football team.
"You need guys that bring great energy every day. I think from a coaching standpoint, role clarity is key. So, we've got to obviously do a better job communicating with our players, 'Hey here's your role and if you're unhappy about your role, it's on you to do something about that, to carve out a role on this football team.'"
LaFleur didn't mention any players specifically, nor should he throw anybody under the bus, but his words about energy were consistent with what team leader and superstar pass-rusher Micah Parsons noticed at the end of the season.
"The change is the players. Us players are the ones playing the game,” Parsons said during locker room cleanout. “I challenged the guys to do more than what your job requires. If you’re in shape, run more. Do more. We’ve got to be out there. Like, we need to be playing. If we’ve got to play 80 snaps, we play 80 snaps. But we shouldn’t be tired doing that. Look how many plays we got outstrained. Like, there’s things that can’t happen. People can’t outwork (us). Like your effort matches what you’re trying to say in the locker room"
Mar 30, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur (center) speaks to reporters and the media during the 2026 NFL Annual League Meeting at the Arizona Biltmore. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images.It's troublesome that two of the key figures on this team have pointed out that effort, energy, and buy-in were noticeable problems. Throw in the fact that the Packers' grades from the NFLPA anonymous survey were down and one has to wonder just what the heck was happening in the locker room last season.
The good news is that we're in the offseason now. Players have left, new players have come in and a whole new batch of young talent will come to Green Bay via the 2025 NFL Draft.
LaFleur and the Packers have a chance to fix that energy from 2025, but it has got to start now. He knows that, too, because he was clear that he's evaluating everything this offseason.
"I was confident in what we've been able to do," LaFleur said. "Certainly, are we satisfied? Hell no. Not even close. We always want more. Until you're hoisting that Lombardi, you're not gonna be satisfied, and even then, you're gonna wanna do it again."