How patient would Packers coach Matt LaFleur be with a rookie kicker? (2024)

GREEN BAY — Matt LaFleur cannot speak for Brian Gutekunst when it comes to rookie kicker Brayden Narveson.

LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers coach, isn’t in charge of personnel decisions. That’s the purview of Gutekunst, the team’s general manager — and the guy who confessed at the end of training camp that he is “not as patient with specialists as I should be” and that the team’s next kicker would have “a short leash.”

That next kicker was Narveson, whom the Packers claimed off waivers from the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 27 — and who’s missed one kick in each of his first two games, much like his predecessor Anders Carlson had done last year as a rookie sixth-round draft pick.

Among the reasons the Packers moved on from Carlson was his predilection for missing at least one kick in seemingly every game. In the Packers’ final 12 games last season, including playoffs, Carlson missed at least one kick in 10 of them.

Heading into next Sunday’s game against his former team at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Narveson is 6 of 8 on field-goal attempts and 3-for-3 on extra points.

He hit 31-, 23- and 26-yard field goals against the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil, in the season opener, but he doinked a 43-yarder off the right upright.

In Sunday’s 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts, Narveson was good from 46, 42 and 34 yards out before pushing a 45-yarder wide right with 4 minutes, 10 seconds left in the game that would have given the Packers a two-score lead.

Asked how patient he feels the Packers can be with Narveson, LaFleur replied, “It’s a better question for Gutey, but from my perspective, I’d say pretty patient. I like his mentality, I like his talent.

“There’s going to be some ups and downs. Hopefully there’s more ups than downs. I do think he’s done a pretty nice job. He’s got to make that field goal — he knows it, we all know it. But I’m confident if he’s in that situation again, he’ll hit it.”

Cornerback rotation

LaFleur praised second-year cornerback Carrington Valentine, who is in a job-sharing arrangement with 2021 first-round draft pick Eric Stokes and, unlike the opener against the Eagles, played more snaps than Stokes against the Colts.

After Stokes played 67 of the Packers’ 76 defensive snaps (88%) to Valentine’s nine snaps (12%) in Brazil, Valentine played 32 of the Packers’ 56 defensive snaps against the Colts (57%) to Stokes’ 24 snaps (43%).

Asked why Valentine saw more action than Stokes, LaFleur replied, “Yeah, ‘CV’ is playing at a high level right now. It’s a competition. Everything’s a competition. And we’ll continue that way, in terms of those guys competing for snaps.”

Stokes, speaking after the game, downplayed the significance in the flip in who played the most snaps, calling it a “rollover” from the previous game.

“I’m fine with it. I’m good. It is what it is,” Stokes said. “I’ve just got to go out and do my job.”

Health watch

LaFleur told reporters on Monday that he had intentionally avoided speaking with to vice president of player health and performance Bryan “Flea” Engel and director of sports medicine/head athletic trainer Nate Weir so he wouldn’t have to lie about where quarterback Jordan Love is in his recovery from a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his left knee.

LaFleur also applied that I-don’t-know answer to rookie first-round draft pick Jordan Morgan, who left Sunday’s win with a shoulder injury. Morgan had been sharing snaps with third-year man Sean Rhyan at right guard before departing with his injury.

Morgan played 20 of the Packers’ 70 offensive snaps (29%) against the Colts before getting hurt, so Rhyan finished the game having played 50 snaps (71%).

LaFleur said he didn’t know if Morgan’s injury was to the same shoulder that forced him to miss time in training camp and prevented him from seeing any game action in preseason.

“Again, I have not talked to our medical staff, so I’ll be able to update you guys on Wednesday,” LaFleur said.

The only other publicly known injury from Sunday was rookie running back MarShawn Lloyd, who departed with an ankle injury. Lloyd, who missed time in training camp with hip and hamstring injuries and was inactive for the opener against the Eagles because of the hamstring, downplayed the seriousness of the ankle injury Monday.

“It’s a sprain, so I’ve just got to figure out how (bad it is),” said Lloyd, who carried six times for 15 yards and caught one pass for 3 yards in his NFL debut Sunday. “I’m walking pretty good, I’m doing everything pretty good. Just a day-by-day thing. I’m excited for what’s to come.”