Is there a major philosophical issue between the Green Bay Packers' head coach and quarterback? It seems to be a question that has run rampant since the postgame comments following Green Bay's 30-20 win over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
If there is, even 620WTMJ's Voice of the Packers, Wayne Larrivee - who is as inside the team as anyone - doesn't see there being such a rift.
"Quite frankly, I just don't believe (there's a major issue)," said Larrivee on "Wisconsin's Afternoon News."
"I don't know of any. I'm sure there's some creative thing that goes on in individuals who work that closely together...I'm sure there's a little bit of creative friction," he adds, giving lots of perspective on what happens at top levels in any business - football or any other line of work.
Many examples come from championship teams:
- The Mike Holmgren-Brett Favre relationship between a coach who asked for a more conservative passing game and the ultimate gunslinger quarterback. Despite that, they won a Super Bowl.
- In Dallas, there was a well-known disagreement between coach Tom Landry and quarterback Roger Staubach, who wanted to call his own plays but was not allowed to for the final years of his tenure there. They still won two Super Bowls and made the Hall of Fame.
"There's a creative thing that happens at this level. They're performing at a very high level. Certainly, there are strong feelings on how to get the job done and how to get it done best."
The Packers' offense has not been performing its best. Though Green Bay put up 30 points on Oakland, they didn't even reach 300 total offensive yards - continuing a pattern of a lack of consistent success for most of the 2015 campaign. The offense has not run for 100 yards and thrown for 250 in the same game since September.
"I've never seen a Rodgers-McCarthy-led offense this limited...I'm not being critical," explained Larrivee.
