GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers coach Matt LaFleur would not say whether his opinion of the tush push has changed since his team’s attempt to get the play banned failed this past offseason.
With the Philadelphia Eagles coming to Lambeau Field on Monday night, however, LaFleur knew it would be a hot topic, and it was one he had little interest in discussing.
“I’m not going to get into it,” LaFleur said Thursday, speaking for the first time during Eagles week. “It is what it is. The NFL made a decision, and we have to find a way to try to stop the play, and it’s a tough play to stop.”
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Former Packers president Mark Murphy, who retired in July, officially led the team’s rule change proposal to eliminate such plays, but LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst both called the play a safety hazard.
It was discussed throughout the offseason among team owners, coaches and general managers, but the proposal failed to get the requisite 24 of 32 teams to vote for it. It came up two votes short during the official vote in May.
Now, LaFleur, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and their players have to deal with the play on Monday night. LaFleur said the best way to stop it is to “not allow it to happen.”
“You can’t allow them in those short-yardage situations because you know exactly what they’re going to do,” LaFleur said. “And they’ve been pretty successful at it obviously.”
According to ESPN Research, the Eagles have run the tush push 21 times over the first eight games of this season with a conversion rate of 76.5%. That’s down from 82.1% last season, 83.3% in 2023 and 92.6% in 2022.
The Packers actually ran the tush push five times with quarterback Jordan Love in 2023, and converted on four of them, but have not run it in the past season and a half.
“Every team’s built a little bit differently,” LaFleur said. “And for me, it’s always, do you want your quarterback subject to some of those hits that he could potentially face in those situations?'”
The Eagles beat the Packers twice last season — in the regular-season opener and in the NFC wild-card playoff round.
