It’s win or go home for the Green Bay Packers, who take on the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
But that’s not how head coach Matt LaFleur is looking at it.
He’s emphasizing to his team that it’s business as usual.
“I think that’s the only way you can go about it,” LaFleur tells Larry McCarren. “You don’t ever want to make this game bigger than what it really is. We all know what’s at stake. For us, it’s going through our normal routine, what’s got us here. And that’s the way we’re gonna continue.”
Matt LaFleur has been part of a playoff team before, but Sunday will be the first as a head coach.
“It’s a little bit different, just in terms of what’s required of you,” he says. “But at the same time, it’s no different than any other week this year. I haven’t really tried to put too much thought into it, other than the fact that we’re playing a really good opponent. But like I said, we’re gonna take the same approach as we have every other week.”
Though there are some veterans on the team this year, for many Packers players, this will also be their first playoff experience.
“It’s a big deal if you make it a big deal,” LaFleur jokes. “I don’t think you ever quite know how guys are going to react in certain situations. Again, that’s why it’s so important for us to make sure we take the same approach and have the same mentality and make sure guys understand that they just have to do their job. That’s it, it’s as simple as that. Don’t go try to look to make a play, just do your job, trust your teammates, trust your training, and everything will fall into place the way it should.”
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