GREEN BAY – Trying to steer clear of a league fine for criticizing officials, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur didn’t rip into the three roughing-the-passer calls his team received in its 23-13 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 18.
The Dallas total raised the Packers' roughing-the-passer penalties to a league-leading six. The next-highest total for a team is four.
Packers opponents have sacked or hit quarterback Jordan Love 39 times without being called for a roughing-the-passer penalty.
“At the end of the day, you just want it to be called both ways,” LaFleur said at his news conference the day after the game. “So if they're going to call it one way, it should be called for the other team as well, and I feel like there's been a lot of times when Jordan's taken some close to potential roughing calls
“And he's not getting the calls.”
LaFleur joked that maybe Love needs to be more of an “A-hole to the officials lobbying for some of those calls. You see some guys do it, and it works.”
The Packers’ three roughing-the-passer penalties came on hits by edge defender Lukas Van Ness, defensive tackle Karl Brooks and safety Evan Williams.
All three involved different types of contact with the quarterback.
“We can only control our actions out there,” LaFleur said. “And there were a couple hits … like you cannot go high on a quarterback. You've got to make sure that you're going in the strike zone. And then obviously if you do have them wrapped up, you’ve got to make sure you don't land on them with your body weight.”
Van Ness’ penalty came when he pushed quarterback Dak Prescott to the ground with both hands after Prescott released the ball.
“I thought Van Ness’ wasn't … what's the definition, you get like a step before you have to hit the quarterback?” LaFleur said. “I didn't think it was a forceful hit to the quarterback.”
Brooks’ penalty came when he hit Prescott in the middle of his body and drove him to the ground. It could be argued that Brooks twisted his body so that he didn’t come down with all his weight on Prescott, but it wasn’t clear-cut.
“I thought Karl’s, it did look like body weight,” LaFleur said, “so that's one where you have to peel off him [Prescott] as best you can. I know there was some discussion amongst the [Packers coaching] staff in regards to whether or not it was roughing.
“So, I think some guys saw it one way, some guys saw it another way.”
Williams was blitzing and went high with both hands up to try to block Prescott’s pass. When he landed, his arms appeared to hit Prescott’s helmet.
LaFleur said he would send in video of the hits to the league to get interpretations on whether the penalties were legitimate and what his players could do better to avoid them.
“After every game, we'll send those in,” LaFleur said. “We'll see what they say, and then I obviously can't tell you guys [the media] about what they say. But it helps us educate our players and, at the end of the day, that's our job.
“We’ve got to educate them on what they can and cannot do, and make sure that we try to coach them up. And they've got to control themselves in the moment.”
Micah Parsons still not ready to return
LaFleur said that edge defender Micah Parsons hasn’t been cleared to return and won’t practice this week.
Once Parsons does return, the Packers have a three-week window in which to practice him without counting him against the 53-man roster. Once they deem him ready to play, they must put him on the active roster.
The Packers currently have two roster spots open. They will use one to add running back Josh Jacobs back to the active list and may use the other to activate nose tackle Jordon Riley from the physically-unable-to-perform list.
The Packers play Carolina on a Thursday night after the Detroit game and will employ only jog-through practices. LaFleur said Parsons could return to practice that week, but he first needs medical clearance.
Christian Watson should have scored a touchdown vs. Cowboys, learns tough lesson
Packers coaches and players yelled at receiver Christian Watson to keep running after he caught a pass across the middle and didn’t appear to be touched down.
But Watson read the play as over when an official approached him, and he tossed him the ball. As soon as he gave himself up, the play was blown dead.
“He started to go, and he said he saw the official walking in, calling for the ball,” LaFleur said. “But like, I said, well, that's going to be a great one to learn from for all of us. If you don't hear a whistle, I don't care who's calling for the ball, you take it to the house.
“I mean, they gave him the progress where he gave the ball up, but certainly missed out on a touchdown right there.”
The officials gave Watson about 10 more yards after the catch, deeming that the spot where he gave himself up.
“They didn't touch him down,” LaFleur said. I'm sure every team in the league will be showing that clip. You’ve got a rookie right there that didn't tag the guy down, and that's something that we always stress, especially to our younger players. You’ve got to tag that guy down.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers lead league in roughing penalties; Matt LaFleur would like more equity