Packers News: Matt LaFleur fires another coach, puts Anders Carlson on the hot seat

It has been a busy day for the Green Bay Packers.

Head coach Matt LaFleur fired defensive coordinator Joe Barry, signaling a change of approach on defense moving forward. It was a tough but necessary decision for LaFleur, whose defense fell short of expectations this season.

It's unclear what direction LaFleur will go regarding Barry's replacement, but he has plenty of options.

Barry's departure did not end the restructure of LaFleur's coaching staff. He made another significant move on Wednesday.

Packers fire strength and conditioning coach after injury-hit season

According to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Packers have fired strength and conditioning coach Chris Gizzi.

Gizzi has held that role since LaFleur became head coach in 2019, but the team is going in another direction this offseason.

From the outside, it's impossible to know how much of an impact the strength and conditioning coach had on the Packers' challenging injury issues. But Green Bay dealt with a concerning number of soft-tissue injuries throughout the season.

LaFleur is taking the injury problems seriously. This follows another report from Silverstein that the Packers are sending Christian Watson and Eric Stokes to the Badger Athletic Performance on the UW-Madison campus to better understand why they have dealt with recurring hamstring issues.

LaFleur said the Packers have a plan. Bringing in a new strength and conditioning coach appears to be part of that.

Packers sign competition for kicker Anders Carlson

Rookie Anders Carlson missed 13 kicks this season. The Packers wasted little time in adding competition. According to Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, the Packers are signing kicker Jack Podlesny.

In 2022, Podlesny was named the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year and a first-team All-SEC while kicking at Georgia. He went undrafted in 2023 before signing with the Minnesota Vikings.

Podlesny converted 83.9 percent of his field-goal attempts in his final season at Georgia. He only missed one extra point.

Podlesny didn't get an opportunity to kick in the regular season. In Green Bay, he might. Podlesny provides competition for Carlson, and it won't be surprising if the Packers add another kicker in the offseason.

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