“Adam Stenavich and Luke Butkus are doing an excellent job with the room,” LaFleur said, referring to his two attacking line coaches. “But even those guys take on themselves the right way to prepare. This is the best O-line group I’ve ever had, and I’m not just talking about the players. I’m talking about the attitude in that room.”
On a personal level, the team feels for Bakhtiari, one of the most respected and capable veterans in the locker room. He is the third longest Packers player after Aaron Rodgers and Mason Crosby, and he recently signed a contract extension that makes him the highest paid attacking lineout in the league.
“It’s hard to see a man going to practice like that,” said Rodgers, a best friend. “You hope for the best. I made a call from him late yesterday afternoon. I was hoping for good news and did not get it.
“You have to move on, but at the moment it’s still a little raw. We’re still sad and hurt for Dave, just because it’s our brother, and it’s our left pack, our teammate. It was a tough one. time for us, and it was infinitely much is probably where he is at present. ‘
LaFleur said when the injury occurred, it took the team a while to focus again during Thursday’s practice. He added the team responded well on Friday with a ‘clean’ practice.
The psyche of the team is naturally worrying when a blow like this is inflicted before an important match is played at this stage of the season. The Packers are trying to secure the No. 1 series in the NFC playoffs, while the Bears are pushing to earn a wild card spot. And whether the Packers get the best seed and a farewell is the post-season around the corner.
“I think my job is just to emphasize to us guys the importance of what we have in front of us, and to attack every moment of every day,” LaFleur said.
“You can not allow it to affect your attitude, the way you prepare, the effort you put in, the focus you bring every day. We have a job to do and that is to go Sunday and a to play a team that fights for everything they have in front of them. ‘