With a date against the tush-pushing Philadelphia Eagles in Week 10, Matt LaFleur had to know that the play would be a topic of conversation with reporters in the lead-up to the contest. After all, it was his Packers team that submitted a rule proposal which would have resulted in the tush push being banned.
So, LaFleur entertained questions about the tush push to a point, but it was apparent that he had little interest in discussing the play in detail, particularly his own feelings on it.
First, LaFleur was asked what he thought of the tush push, a question the Packers coach redirected towards a football conversation, raising a good point on how to actually stop the play.
"Yeah I think the best way to stop it is to not allow it to happen in regards to, you can't allow them [to get into] those short-yardage situations because you know exactly what they're going to do and they've been pretty successful at it, obviously," LaFleur said.
Perhaps sensing the direction the discussion was going, a reporter asked how the Packers would go about "teaching" how to stop the play in the event that it did occur. For obvious reasons, LaFleur wasn't interested in divulging "fundamentals and techniques" his team would use to attempt to slow the tush push.
When a reporter asked if LaFleur's opinion on the play had changed, the Packers coach put an end to the conversation.
"I'm not going to get into it," LaFleur said. "It is what it is. The NFL made a decision and we have to try to find a way to stop the play and it's a tough play to stop."
The Packers' rule proposal to ban tush push
Green Bay president Mark Murphy, in an online Q&A back in early February, expressed his distaste for the tush push and opined that he'd like to see the league "go back to prohibiting the push of the runner." Just a few weeks later, NFL executive vice president of operations Troy Vincent revealed that an anonymous team had submitted a proposal to ban the tush push. The Packers were later revealed to be that team.
The proposal led to a leaguewide discussion on the play, and a close vote that the play ultimately survived.
What was LaFleur's opinion of the tush push?
LaFleur, during the annual league meetings, expressed his safety concerns about the tush push, which he called "more of a rugby play." The Packers coach clarified that while he didn't help to draft the team's proposal to ban the play, that he did support the initiative.
The proposal eventually went to a vote in May, resulting in 22 votes for a ban and 10 votes to keep the play, falling short of the 24 votes required to approve a rule change.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Matt LaFleur Wasn't Feeling Very Loquacious About Tush Push Before Game vs. Eagles.
