Has Mike McCarthy Lost Packer The Locker Room?

After the Green Bay Packers had dropped to 4-4 with a home loss to the Indianapolis Colts, player frustration hit a season low. Based on players post-game comments and behavior, fans should be asking, has Mike McCarthy lost his locker room?

Heading into a week nine home game against the Colts, the Green Bay Packers had a lot to play for. Minutes before kickoff, they learned the Minnesota Vikings had lost to Detroit Lions.

Because of this, the team had a chance to get back on top of the division. Unfortunately, they wasted the opportunity with a lackluster performance in front of a home crowd.

After the game, players spoke to what fans had witnessed for the past 60 minutes of play.

The Packers had overlooked the Colts and lacked energy throughout much of the game.

For once, players like Aaron Rodgers addressed the real issue, instead of vague explanations of scheme and execution. In his post-game press conference, Rodgers stated,

"“I don’t understand it. I mean, this is what we get paid to do, is to bring it every week, and I hope the guys would say I bring it every week. I mean, I love this game and I bring energy. I’m not a rah-rah guy, but I’m a focused, enthusiastic player, and I don’t know what the lack of juice was. You kind of felt it over the entire sideline. We didn’t have the same kind of enthusiasm and encouragement that we had the previous two weeks."

While honest discourse about the problem is appreciated, a lack of energy is harder to solve than making scheme or personnel adjustments during the week.

The effort given by the Green Bay Packers suggests the coach is not emphasizing the, “one game at a time” philosophy needed to win in any sport. This is especially true for the Packers, who are nowhere near an elite team that can win on talent alone.

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How Mike McCarthy handled the availability of Randall Cobb set the attitude the team entering the game. Despite being “active,” McCarthy did not play his receiver the entire first half.

This sent the message that his team was good enough to win without their top receiver, even though he was available to play. When reality set in that the Packers are a mediocre team, he scrambled to get Cobb involved.

In addition to Rodgers testimony and McCarthy’s misuse of Cobb, defensive tackle Mike Daniels went on a locker room tirade in front of members of the media.

While Daniels is known for his fiery personality, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Michael Cohen and Tom Silverstein gave insight into teammates reaction to his post-game antics.

One player anonymously stated,

"“For me, after a loss, yelling is not going to do anything at that point. You know what I mean? That’s not the right time to do it. Of course, everybody is pissed off that we just lost. If somebody is going to yell, it needs to be the coach. The coach needs to yell. Mike Daniels is going to do what he wants, though. It used to bother me, but now I just close my ears to it.”"

This statement presents several problems taking place in the Packer locker room. First, the quote suggests the player is looking for Mike McCarthy to take the reigns regarding getting his team, “pissed off.” Right now, this doesn’t appear to be happening.

Additionally, a player thought to have been a leader on the team is being ignored by his teammates. Another player talked of the respect Daniels gets for his strong play but also dismissed the yelling.

"“He’s just a different character, man. He’s just different. One thing he does is he goes out there and plays his (expletive) off, so you can’t really say nothing to him about that. (The yelling) is just something you’ve got to deal with. You don’t have to listen to it. He’s going to say what he wants to say though.”"

Currently, the Green Bay locker room appears to be lacking leadership. Players are looking to their coach for inspiration and are feeling underwhelmed. The result is embarrassing losses to teams they should beat.

Next: Packers Are Not A Playoff Team

With half of the season remaining, the Packers have time to get things right. However, changing the locker room culture will be harder to fix. If we continue to see the Packers slide and additional comments on a lack energy, look Green Bay to make a coaching change this off-season.

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