Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Monday that Jordan Love is not getting roughing-the-passer calls and should push officials harder for them.
The Packers were flagged for roughing the passer three times in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 23-13 win over the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas was not flagged for it once. Love was sacked three times, and the official game book credits Dallas with eight quarterback hits.
LaFleur said he wants the rule enforced the same way for both teams.
“At the end of the day, you just want it to be called both ways,” LaFleur said. “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. He’s not getting the calls.”
“I don’t know. I think he needs to be more of an a-hole to the officials or lobby for some of those calls,” LaFleur continued. “You see some guys do it, and it works.”
The Green Bay Packers were flagged for roughing three times in the fourth quarter
The first call cost Green Bay an interception. Carrington Valentine picked off Dak Prescott at the Green Bay 34 with 7:44 left and returned it 21 yards, but Lukas Van Ness was flagged for roughing on the play.
LaFleur did not think the Van Ness hit was a foul.
“What’s the definition? You get like a step before you have to hit the quarterback,” LaFleur said. “And I didn’t think it was a forceful hit to the quarterback.”
Later on the same drive, a roughing call on defensive lineman Karl Brooks wiped out an incompletion and moved Dallas from the Green Bay 27 to the 13. The Cowboys turned it over on downs at the 14 on that drive.
The third came with 1:03 left, when Evan Williams was flagged on a 7-yard completion, moving the ball to the 6. Prescott threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Flournoy two plays later.
The Brooks hit “did look like body weight,” LaFleur said, and the staff did not agree on another of the calls.
“I know there was some discussion amongst that play with the staff in regards to whether or not it was roughing,” LaFleur said. “So I think some guys saw it one way, some guys saw it another way.”
The Packers send plays to the league for review after every game.
“It helps us educate our players, and at the end of the day, that’s our job,” LaFleur said. “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.”
After the game Sunday, LaFleur called the total “far too many” and said the penalties were costly.
Matt LaFleur says Jordan Love “balled out” against Dallas
Love completed 23 of 41 passes for 276 yards, a touchdown and an interception and ran for a 1-yard score before halftime. LaFleur, who called Love “a G” after the game, went further Monday.
“I thought he balled out, and specifically yesterday. I thought he balled out,” LaFleur said. “He played about as good as you could have played and taking hits in the process.”
“For him to be able to stand in there, especially after some of the abuse he took early on in the season, I think it’s a testament to him and his ability and just how tough-minded of a guy he is,” LaFleur continued. “But he’s doing a great job getting the ball out of his hands. He’s trusting his guys to go make plays for him.”
Standing in against pressure was a requirement when the Packers scouted quarterbacks, LaFleur said.
“Usually the old chuck-and-duck isn’t too good for anybody,” LaFleur said.
Love said Sunday the hits come with the job.
“As part of playing the quarterback job, you know, you got to be able to stand in that pocket and take some hits and still deliver balls,” Love said.
The Packers (4-2) play at the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.