Why Packers coach Matt LaFleur decided to trust Jordan Love more at the line of scrimmage

GREEN BAY — Sean Clifford understands how goofy he looks. He doesn’t care. He is not altering his sideline headwear.

While most NFL backup quarterbacks don a baseball-style cap or a winter beanie — depending on the weather forecast — as they watch the starter run the offense, Clifford, the Green Bay Packers rookie No. 2 quarterback, is different. He wears his helmet all game long — not only because the speaker headset inside his helmet allows him to listen in to the play-calls coach Matt LaFleur radios into first-year starter Jordan Love, but because it allows him to hear LaFleur’s calls exactly as he would if disaster struck and he had to go in and replace an injured Love.

“You know, it’d probably be smart if I just used the earpiece,” Clifford confessed this week. “But honestly, I’ll probably never change.”

His odd listening device choice notwithstanding, Clifford has been tuned into the LaFleur-to-Love in-game communications for 12 games now. He was eavesdropping as the Packers were dropping four straight games on their way to a 2-5 start, and he has been taking in all the calls as the Packers have won four of their last five games (and three in a row) to even their record at 6-6 entering Monday night’s prime-time matchup with the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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Which makes Clifford uniquely qualified to deliver insight into one of the most meaningful developments to occur during the Packers’ midseason turnaround: The increased at-the-line-of-scrimmage responsibility that LaFleur has given Love in recent weeks.

It was especially noticeable in last week’s 27-19 victory over the defending Super Bowl LVII-champion Kansas City Chiefs at Lambeau Field, as Love changed more plays at the line of scrimmage than he had in any previous game this season.

For the uninitiated, in LaFleur’s offensive system (and in the many iterations of the Kyle Shanahan-Sean McVay offense that now permeates the NFL), many play-calls come with a corollary attached call, which LaFleur refers to as a “can” play. Why? Because if the quarterback doesn’t like the pre-snap look he’s getting from the opposing defense and believes that alignment will thwart LaFleur’s chosen play, he can — clever, ‘eh? — switch to the adjacent play and run that instead.

That’s what Love is doing at the line of scrimmage when he cups his hands and taps each of his helmet ear holes, and then his fellow offensive skill-position players respond in kind to alert him that they’ve gotten the change.

The reason for the spike in “can” plays in recent weeks is simple: LaFleur has more faith that not only Love will recognize when to make a change and when not to do so, but he also has seen enough growth from his young wide receiver and tight end corps — groups made up of nine rookies and three second-year players, with no one with any more experience than that—are now up to the task of mentally flipping a switch from one call to the other.

All of which makes perfect sense, including to Clifford, who’s had a front-row seat to that evolution.

“I think it’s ownership, right? At the end of the day, it’s ownership and responsibility, and you’re only going to get that through earning it,” Clifford said. “Early in the season — and I think Jordan would even say (this) — keeping it simple was the easier way to do it. His first starts, getting his feet under him, new guys/young guys on offense, everyone needed it.

“Now that we’re owning the system and taking on more responsibility, I think that’s where we are now. Knowing what we’re talking about in the (offensive meeting) room, he has a bunch of responsibility. And I know Jordan’s taking it head on.

“There’s a lot more communication with the quarterbacks, too, of just what he likes. I just think we’re getting a really good vibe in our own room of talking through situations, talking through different plays. A lot of trust is really, really starting to formulate — especially with Jordan and Matt. I can see it.”

Obviously, despite spending three years as Aaron Rodgers’ understudy before ascending to the starting job this season, Love doesn’t have the same mental Rolodex of plays as Rodgers amassed during his 18 years with the Packers and 15 years as the starting quarterback. And while late in Rodgers’ tenure the outside narrative somehow shifted toward framing his encyclopedic knowledge as more of a curse than a blessing, LaFleur still insists that Rodgers’ ability to get the offense out of less-than-ideal calls and into near-perfect plays on a regular basis contributed heavily to the team’s three straight 13-win seasons and NFC Championship Game appearances.

But the effectiveness of that approach was also largely predicated on Rodgers’ demanding, exacting standards and a host of veteran pass-catchers who were on the same page more often than not because of their own extensive experience in the league and with Rodgers himself. Plus, Rodgers would at times make wholesale changes to calls, eschewing the “can” play for something completely unrelated to the original call.

Early in this season, by contrast, LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich felt they had to curtail the line-of-scrimmage machinations because of Love’s inexperience as a starter and the team’s decision to go full-on youth movement at receiver and tight end. With a group prone to mental mistakes, giving players even more to think about than what they had on their minds already.

Heck, even on one of the most impressive plays of the year, Love’s miniscule-window touchdown pass to Jayden Reed in Detroit on Thanksgiving, Christian Watson ran the wrong route, making it a far more difficult throw and nearly destroying the play altogether.

“Yes, 100%. That was one of those things you’ve got to worry about early with guys that don’t have a lot of experience,” Stenavich said when asked if he and LaFleur were reluctant to give Love more “can” plays to work with because of their collective inexperience.

“When you’re putting too much on their plate, making them think too much, they’re not just going out there and playing fast. Because a lot of times, even if you might not be in the right play, as long as everyone’s on the same page and they’re all going 100 miles an hour, a lot of times good things can still happen. So that’s one thing that, as we keep going, I think we’ll be able to do a little bit more every week.”

In recent weeks, though, the group has improved by leaps and bounds, with mental errors cratering. That shift, along with Love being more decisive with the football and LaFleur being less conservative in his play-calling, began in the team’s Nov. 12 loss at Pittsburgh and has gained momentum ever since.

That, in turn, has led to LaFleur’s willingness to give Love more responsibility, while also trusting the other 10 players on the field to exhibit the mental acuity to handle that workload.

“The more that he’s put into certain situations, the more trust he’s earned. He’s earned that respect and that trust,” LaFleur explained. “I do think it’s been a benefit for him being around here for a couple years and seeing Aaron do some of that stuff and then learning from that.

“But ultimately, he’s had to go out there and do it — and he’s done a great job with it. He got us in and out of some bad plays (against Kansas City) and put us into some good protection situations that weren’t necessarily talked about, but he saw a certain look. That gives us a lot of confidence as a coaching staff that you don’t always have to be perfect as a play-caller.

“You’d always like to have the perfect play called or have the perfect can on a plan. Certainly, when it’s not that, and you have a guy that can get it right, then that’s a huge advantage.”

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love examines the Lions’ defense on Thanksgiving Day.

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Now, Love didn’t make the right at-the-line decision every time against Kansas City. But LaFleur also doesn’t expect him to bat 1.000 — since not even Rodgers was right on every call.

“There were a couple times (against the Chiefs) where it’s not necessarily perfect, but the thing is, you can’t have it both ways,” LaFleur said. “So, you just talk about it and you move on.”

Alexander ruled out

The Packers announced Sunday that they had ruled former All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander out for Monday night’s game because his ongoing shoulder injury.

This will mark the fifth straight game Alexander has missed because of the shoulder injury, which he sustained in the Packers’ Nov. 5 win over the Los Angeles Rams. It’ll be the eighth game he’s missed this season. having missed three games earlier in the year because of a back injury.

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