GREEN BAY – The last day of minicamp is always like the last day of school, as the players have reached the finish line of the offseason program and head out on their summer break.
But the message has been delivered that while everyone needs to unplug, get away and recharge a little bit, training for the upcoming season can't just be put on hold for six weeks.
"You've got to continue to work," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said of the message he delivered to the players in their final spring huddle Thursday on Ray Nitschke Field. "Just because we're done now, it goes on to the next phase, and now we have like 40 days roughly before the start of training camp.
"You can't take your foot off the gas for one second in this league, because if you do, people are going to bypass you. We've got to keep pushing."
Players will report for training camp on July 22, with the first practice the next day.
"Ultimately it's up to each individual to put in that work to come back and be in a better place," LaFleur said. "Then collectively, hopefully that adds up."
The work was cut short a tad early Thursday thanks to kicker Brandon McManus. He was tasked with making a 58-yard field goal in order for the team to skip one final round of conditioning drills at the end of practice.
McManus nailed it, and then the team gathered around to present an autographed helmet to outgoing President/CEO Mark Murphy, who then broke down the huddle with, "1, 2, 3 … Super Bowl!"
That's obviously the goal for 2025, though LaFleur wasn't about to make any headlines with such a quote in his final offseason press conference.
He wrapped up the spring sounding very confident about his squad for the upcoming season, but determined to keep the team focused on what it's going to take to live up to their own expectations.
"I think we're capable of being a really good football team – a really good competitive football team," LaFleur said. "But it's not just going to happen. Again, it goes back to the work and collectively we need everybody to be their best individually in order to be the best team we can be.
"It's not going to be easy. We know that. But those guys have embraced every challenge we've put in front of them, so I'm excited about this group. But ultimately, we've got to go do it."
