Matt LaFleur confirms a major offensive tweak, but not for the reasons we thought

If it seems like the kind of play-action the Packers have been running has changed, it has but it's not (only) because of Jordan Love's injury-plagued season.

When Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur deflected questions about schematic changes due to Love’s injured knee earlier in the season, let’s just say it was easy to be skeptical. The Green Bay Packers held Love’s injury status like a paranoid poker player, their cards with precious little daylight against their chest. Why would we expect them to be forthright about how much it was affecting the playcalling?

But on Wednesday, Matt LaFleur gave a specific, philosophical reason for why the Packers have tweaked the way they run play-action: they don’t want their tight ends blocking edge players one-on-one.

“Throughout the course of my career (play-action) is off a legit run action, where we’ve kind of gotten away from that where, with those actions, you’ve got a tight end trying to lock down a defensive end,” LaFleur said during his mid-week press conference.

“I think a lot of these (edge rushers) nowadays, they’re very tough to block. We’ve kind of gotten a little bit away from that and make sure formationally that we’re presenting the same look as we’re running the football and may be doing more chipping with the tight ends.”

If this feels minor, LaFLeur went so far as to say the team might not even call some of their new concepts “play-action,” because based on previous standards, they’re not exactly. Pro Football Focus or NextGen Stats might chart them that way, but the Packers could consider them their own thing depending on the play.

Earlier this week, I wrote about the change in approach to play-action, both in the frequency and type. I referenced this play but highlighted a different element: playing from under center from heavy personnel. It’s something the Packers have been doing less this season, and it turns out there’s a reason.

Notice there is no boot action, no slicing tight end across the formation. It doesn’t truly read like a traditional LaFleur-Shanahan play-action pass. When a team has Marcedes Lewis, the kinds of play-actions that are available change. He blocks like a tackle. To LaFleur, that means evolving to fit your personnel.