Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur didn’t see a Cincinnati Bengals trade for a quarterback coming this week. In his pre-practice press conference on Wednesday, LaFleur said the following about the Joe Flacco trade: “I certainly was a little surprised yesterday.”
So that work that the Packers might have spent over the bye week to prepare for either Jake Browning or Brett Rypien, the latter who is no longer even on the Bengals’ roster, is all moot now. Per reports, the plan for the Bengals is to start
Flacco under center, with just a couple of days of preparation with his new team.
“I can say that I don’t think, outside of a division game, I’ve ever seen the same quarterback on a different team. So, it’ll be interesting,” added LaFleur, smiling.
When asked about whether or not Flacco would be ready in a quick turnaround, LaFleur dispelled some doubts:
“I would say that Joe Flacco’s been playing this game for a really long time and he’s been in a lot of different systems. So, I would bet that he would have no problems picking it up, even in a short period of time. I think the hardest thing for them is going to be just the nuances with your cadence, your snap count, the rapport you have with the other players. Now, he’s pretty fortunate. He’s got some good guys to certainly throw to. So, either way, whoever the quarterback is, you got to go against what they’ve traditionally put on film over a long period of time.”
Being at home will help the Packers in this situation, if LaFleur’s assessment is right. Certainly, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are better than the pass-catchers that Flacco had to work with in Cleveland, a team that still managed to beat Green Bay, but hopefully, a loud home crowd can help influence the game while the Bengals’ offense is still trying to get on the same page.
