It's up to Matt LaFleur to turn Packers' 'humbling experience' into a lesson

It was a no-good, rotten, ugly game for the Green Bay Packers on Saturday. The only saving grace was that it was the first preseason game of the 2025 campaign, which meant the 30-10 loss to the New York Jets didn't mean anything at the end of the day.

The "L" didn't count, and the Packers have to be thanking their lucky stars for that, but everything else that contributed to the loss did. The bad decisions. The sloppy play. The missed tackles. The drops from the wide receivers — an issue that has carried over from the 2024 season. The penalties.

Those are all things you don't want to see as a coach and evaluator, but after the game, those are the words head coach Matt LaFleur used to describe his team's performance.

"That was a humbling experience," LaFleur, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN. "Definitely not what we want to put out there. I don't care preseason, regular season, it doesn't matter to me. It was just sloppy football. Too many penalties, drops, missed tackles, bad decision-making, and it really showed up in every phase of football. And if you do that, you're going to get your ass kicked, and that's exactly what happened."

The Packers were certainly humbled, but again, the good news is this isn't a loss that has to stay on their permanent record. If LaFleur plays his cards right, this is a loss that can rejuvenate this team and help it during the regular season.

This is a beatdown that the Packers can use as a tool, but that's up to LaFleur and his coaching staff now.

He's gone 67-33 in six years at the helm in Green Bay, and he's led the Packers to the playoffs in all but one season. LaFleur is without a doubt one of the top coaches in the league when it comes to win-loss record, but he's not yet gotten over the hump in Green Bay.

For many franchises, his overall record alone would mean that he's safe, but this is "Title Town."

The expectations in Green Bay are Super Bowl wins. While a loss in the first game of the preseason in no way correlates to hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, a coach with his eyes on the grand prize knows how to take a moment like this and turn it into a catalyst for early-season success.

Is LaFleur that type of coach? He's good, but is he elite? 

Let's see if the Packers can take a meaningless preseason loss and turn it into something meaningful. That will be LaFleur's test this August.