The Green Bay Packers feel like they have been stuck in a rut as an organization over the last few seasons. The Packers have been a playoff staple, even making the postseason last year, but they suffered a huge loss against the Bears and lost in the Wild Card round. There were also reports of Matt LaFleur and the Packers separating, along with some issues in the locker room, and it remains to be seen what happens there.
Packers insider at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Pete Dougherty, talked in his mailbag about potential issues in the locker room that might have popped up recently. He said that, despite Matt LaFleur bringing up locker room issues unprompted, he does not think Green Bay's issues were any different from those that permeated NFL locker rooms.
One issue that plagued the Packers was players' anger over the roles they played on the team, whether on offense or defense.
Jordan Morgan said publicly he wanted to play left tackle and not move around. Colby Wooden told Indianapolis media after he was traded there that he was playing out of position at nose tackle for the Packers. Quay Walker suggested he wasn’t happy with the way the Packers used him when he talked with the Las Vegas media after he signed in free agency. Finally, Elgton Jenkins refused to participate in offseason work last year because he wanted a contract extension that never came for his move to center.
Dougherty also explained that the ways to deal with malcontents on different teams are either to get rid of them or to have the coaching staff be clear, open, and honest about roles with players, which LaFleur said when he discussed the issue. That's a never-ending job.
The biggest thing that coaches want is to get the most out of their players. To do that, expanding roles is a great way to encourage, but there appears to be a fine line, because that is where players could have issues with how they are accustomed to being used.
