The Packers prepared for a short week with a divide-and-conquer approach

GREEN BAY – There’s a lot packed into these short weeks, and the Packers have planned ahead as much as possible for this week.

First, head coach Matt LaFleur announced after Sunday’s win over the 49ers that he had spent part of Green Bay’s bye a few weeks ago studying Miami Dolphins game film to help develop a preliminary game plan for the game to begin on Thanksgiving evening.

That left him with just two Dolphins games left to review on Sunday night before putting the finishing touches on the game plan he would present to the players when they arrived on Monday.

It turns out defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley took the same approach on his side of the ball, using a few days during the bye to prepare for the Dolphins and put together initial notes and ideas.

But it didn’t stop there.

Last week, in the final days before the game in San Francisco, assistant coaches on both sides of the ball also did some prep work for Miami. On Sunday evening, everyone’s thoughts came together to finalize the game plan so that the players could start mental processing straight away on Monday.

It’s interesting how it came about because, as playmakers on their respective playing teams, LaFleur and Hafley were solely focused on the 49ers last week. The days before the game are all about final tweaks and working through game-changing scenarios in your head, anticipating situations, making possible adjustments and the like.

“I would have a really hard time looking back at Miami trying to defend the 49ers,” Hafley said Tuesday. “Imagine studying for a test all week and then starting studying another subject the day before the rest.

“I mean, that would just… I can’t do that.”

But once that game plan was finalized for San Francisco, the other assistants who don’t call plays started getting involved with the Dolphins and doing what LaFleur and Hafley did when they left (while the rest of the staff had other projects and… ). to complete self-scouting tasks).

Ultimately, it’s a somewhat complicated process of divide and conquer in the never-ending, hectic hustle and bustle of an NFL season.

Under LaFleur, the Packers are 3-3 in weekday Thursday games and won last year’s Thanksgiving game in Detroit after losing at home to the Lions on Thursday Night Football earlier in the season. (Side note: Last Thanksgiving’s win moved LaFleur to 5-0 on the holiday; the other wins came on Christmas ’21 and ’22, New Year’s Day ’22 and New Year’s Eve ’23.)

However, preparing for a short week against a division opponent is a little easier because the teams already know each other so well. This year, an unlikely opponent from the AFC provides the added challenge, even though the Packers faced the Dolphins on Christmas just two years ago.

This was the first time the Packers had their bye so close to the short week, allowing LaFleur and Hafley to do so much groundwork. In 2020, Green Bay’s bye came three weeks before Thursday night’s impending road tipping in San Francisco, but both the bye and short week were much earlier in the season, so there wasn’t as much film to study.

Whether the way this year’s schedule played out works to the Packers’ advantage remains to be seen on Thanksgiving evening. For those wondering, Miami’s bye was in early October and the Dolphins still had six games to play before their short week challenge came.

But no matter how different the coaching staffs’ approaches may have been, it doesn’t matter to the players on both teams. Game on Sunday, then rest, recovery, cramming and walk-throughs to do your best in front of the entire country celebrating the holidays.

“The short weeks are tough,” quarterback Jordan Love said, “but (we) obviously try to get as much film in as possible and understand who we’re going against and then the game plan.”

Which, unlike in more normal times, took several weeks.

“It’s a quick turnaround,” defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness said. “You just have to do whatever you can to flip the switch, refresh your mind and get ready for Thursday.”