THOUSAND OAKS — The NFC title game in 2020 was not the first time that Mike and Matt LaFleur faced off against each other in the NFL, but it presented them with an interesting predicament: One brother would achieve his dream of reaching the Super Bowl. The other would go home for a long offseason.
Mike, then the passing game coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, was the one to find glory that night with a 37-20 victory. But he went to the visitors’ locker room at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to search out his brother, who had just completed his first year as head coach of the Green Bay Packers.
“I’ll never forget … he’s like damn near in tears because he feels so bad for me,” Matt recalled. “But it was one of those games where you get your butt kicked, you’re like, ‘Alright, well.’ I was happy for him, obviously disappointed for our team. That’s just the kind of relationship we have. We’re as close as any two brothers, especially in this league, can be.”
The two brothers will face off against each other for a seventh time on Sunday as Mike’s Rams travel to face Matt’s Packers at Lambeau Field. Mike, now filling the offensive coordinator role in Los Angeles that was Matt’s in 2017, is trying to treat it like another day at the office.
“You don’t even think about it during the week. You can’t, there’s just too much. I’m more worried about [Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry] than going against Matt,” Mike said. “So it’s almost become a normal [thing]. Seriously, you don’t even think about it.”
That was not always the case growing up. Matt is seven years older than Mike, and he was not one to show sympathy for his younger brother when the pair were growing up.
“I never took it easy on him,” Matt said. “I always tried to bury him under a pile of dirt.”
“Usually I was not the one getting in trouble because I was the younger brother,” Mike added. “But I looked up to him like crazy, especially as I kinda got more involved in sports and my love for sports. So again I was annoying with him, but we’re pretty tight.”
The pair worked together for two seasons in Atlanta under Kyle Shanahan. Matt was the quarterbacks coach, while Mike was an assistant with the offense. Shanahan and Matt were tough on Mike, the older brother admits, like they were to any offensive assistant.
They still talk weekly even during the season. It will be the same this week, though with less of an emphasis on strategy.
This year has allowed the duo a chance to bond over their young rosters. It’s a first for Matt, whereas Mike dealt with similar youth movements in his two seasons with the New York Jets.
“It’s the first time he’s actually asking me some questions about some things in terms of having younger players and stuff like that,” Mike said. “There’s the challenges with the youth but you love it because you get to watch these guys grow.”
As to whom the rest of the family is rooting for this week, Matt says his parents owe their allegiances to him after he bought them a house in Green Bay.
“They like me more, so,” Mike joked.
INJURY REPORT
Quarterback Matthew Stafford (right thumb), right tackle Rob Havenstein (calf) and linebacker Ernest Jones (knee) all did not practice on Thursday, marking the second straight day they did not take part in on-field activities.
