The 6-foot-5 receiver was cut before the
season
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roster in short order.But on Monday night, Green Bay needed Lazard, and the
undrafted second-year pro delivered with a career-high four catches for a
career-best 65 yards and his first career touchdown in a 23-22 win over
Detroit."It was obviously an awesome moment, getting my first touchdown,
especially here in Lambeau," Lazard said. "Just kind of fulfilling the journey
of being able to be here with this amazing organization. To catch a touchdown in
a critical moment is something huge and something that, as a kid, you grow up
dreaming about. It feels great to fulfill it."WHAT'S WORKINGMatt LaFleur and
Aaron Rodgers. The Packers are 5-1 and in sole possession of first place in the
NFC North, and yes, their defense is a big part of that. But all the noise
surrounding the relationship between the 39-year-old first-year coach and the
35-year-old Super Bowl-winning quarterback has been drowned out by the
franchise's best start since 2015 and best start in the division (3-0) since
2012.In order for Green Bay to have success this season, LaFleur and Rodgers
were going to have to learn to trust one another. They have. Rodgers has trusted
LaFleur's playcalls. Even when they didn't work. And it was LaFleur and his
staff who trusted Rodgers on Monday night when Rodgers lobbied for Lazard, the
sixth receiver in the Packers' six-man receiving group, to get in the game."I
may have put in a good word there in the fourth quarter to get him some
opportunities
Jermaine
Whitehead Jersey White ," Rodgers said.Rodgers said he went to wide
receivers coach Alvis Whitted and asked "if 13 could come in for a little
bit."Lazard had never caught a pass in a regular-season game from Rodgers before
Monday.WHAT'S NOT WORKINGA win's a win. But the Packers offense is still
struggling. Green Bay was 4-for-12 on third down and 1-for-4 in the red zone on
Monday. LaFleur said Tuesday that he and his staff also counted six dropped
passes against the Lions, including the dropped touchdowns by Aaron Jones and
Jimmy Graham."There certainly were some drops out there that our guys would like
to have back," LaFleur said. "Aaron (Rodgers) is so consistent, and that's why
he is who he is. And any time you have a quarterback like that, you always
believe that you can come back and win a football game and I think our guys
believe that as well."It's difficult to ask Rodgers to keep bailing out his
teammates. They have to help him out by grabbing the catchable passes.STOCK
UPLazard. With Rodgers' top target Davante Adams sidelined indefinitely with
turf toe, Geronimo Allison leaving Monday's game with a concussion and rookie
Darrius Shepherd's stock falling (see below), Lazard's stock has never been
higher. He has the trust of Rodgers and that goes a long way and will likely
result in more targets.STOCK DOWNShepherd. Everyone has bad games. Everyone
doesn't have bad games on "Monday Night Football" as an undrafted rookie.
Shepherd fumbled a punt return and had a pass from Rodgers bounce off his hands
and facemask near the goal line and land in the hands of a Lions defender.
Luckily for Shepherd, both plays only resulted in field goals and he seems to
still have the backing of his head coach."It was a tough night, but he continued
to battle and he's going to have to put it behind him," LaFleur said of
Shepherd. "I know that I certainly still trust him. But it was a rough night and
he's just going to have to bounce back and we're going to support him. We're
just fortunate to come out on top."INJUREDIf Allison (chest, concussion) and
Adams (toe) can't suit up against the Raiders on Sunday, general manager Brian
Gutekunst will need to add another receiver. Green Bay only has Marquez
Valdes-Scantling, Jake Kumerow, Lazard and Shepherd.KEY NUMBER5-1 ¡ª LaFleur is
5-1 in his first season as an NFL head coach. The other five rookie head coaches
are a combined 6-22-1.NEXT STEPSThe Packers have a short week to prepare for the
Raiders. Green Bay will play its fifth home game in six weeks when it hosts
Oakland on Sunday. The Packers have won their past seven regular-season matchups
against the Raiders.Follow Keith Jenkins on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MrKeithJenkins INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ¡ª Green Bay Packers
quarterback Aaron Rodgers endured perhaps the most challenging year of his
career ¡ª a season marked by a knee
injury
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McCarthy.Enter new coach Matt LaFleur, who would rather look ahead to building a
relationship with Rodgers than look back to find out what went wrong.¡°He¡¯s had a
hell of a career up to this point,¡± LaFleur said at the NFL combine on
Wednesday. ¡°For me, it¡¯s just about what can we do moving forward. I know this:
When I talk to him, the guy wants to win. I think he¡¯s at the point of his
career where he¡¯s starting to think about his legacy and what he¡¯s going to
leave. The only way you can do that is you better win a world championship.
That¡¯s the goal. We¡¯re always going to strive for that.¡°I think that¡¯s where
he¡¯s at in his career.¡±Rodgers won his lone Super Bowl in 2010. He won MVP
awards in 2011 and 2014 and led the Packers to NFC championship games in 2014
and 2016. The second world championship, however, has remained elusive.At age
35, he¡¯s on the back nine of his career.To get the Packers back to the playoffs
¨C they¡¯ve missed out the last two seasons after qualifying the previous eight
years ¨C let alone win a championship, LaFleur wants to take some of the pressure
off Rodgers. That means a balanced offense, particularly on first and second
down. Green Bay operated the most pass-heavy attack in the league last
season.LaFleur hopes to change the equation.¡°That¡¯s philosophically what I
believe is best to keep a defense off-balance, and it makes the quarterback¡¯s
job a heck of a lot easier, it takes hits off the quarterbacks,¡± LaFleur said.
¡°I think all these guys kind of have a shelf life and there¡¯s only ¡®X¡¯ amount of
hits in a guy¡¯s body. So how can we extend our quarterback¡¯s career as long as
possible? And I think the way you do that is make a commitment to the running
game and kind of build your offense through your running game?¡±The Packers
arrived at the combine armed with a pair of first-round picks ¡ª Nos. 12 and 30 ¡ª
and six choices in the first four rounds. They have plenty of needs, with
outside
linebacker
Kentrell
Brice Jersey White , safety and guard among them. Finding an immediate
starter at tight end, however, might not be necessary, with general manager
Brian Gutekunst indicating veteran Jimmy Graham will return for a second
season.Graham finished second on the team with 55 receptions for 636 yards,
though he scored only two touchdowns. He played the last quarter of the season
with a broken thumb. The 32-year-old has a salary-cap charge of $12.667 million
for 2019, which includes a $5 million roster bonus due next month. Gutekunst
could release Graham and create about $5.333 million of cap space but that¡¯s
apparently not the plan.¡°Jimmy had a productive year for us last year,¡±
Gutekunst said. ¡°Was really, really proud of him. He fought through a lot of
things just to be out there. Guys who have played as long as he has don¡¯t have
to do that. His professionalism was on display each and every day, and I look
forward to seeing what he can do for us this year.¡±The futures of free-agent
receiver Randall Cobb, free-agent linebacker Clay Matthews and veteran
linebacker Nick Perry have not been determined, Gutekunst said. They were three
of the highest-paid players on the team last season but they all
underperformed.¡°As we get all the information together as we approach the next
few weeks, we¡¯ll kind of have a better idea for all that,¡± Gutekunst said.