The National Football League has a metric titled ‘Explosive plays.’ Those are defined as 10-plus yard running plays and 15-plus yard passing plays. Green Bay ranked a woeful 23rd in that category. Matt LaFleur wants to fix that. He spoke with Jason Wilde and Mark Tauscher on Thursday morning. LaFleur believes that a combination of playcalling and taking more shots downfield will do the trick. Some might snicker at LaFleur after the Packers drafted a quarterback in the first round and no receivers for the entire draft, but the Packers have a plan. It is up to you if you trust it or not.

LaFleur on @WildeAndTausch: “One are we really need to improve on is creating more explosive plays. We were pretty efficient … but were 23rd in explosive plays. That starts with play calling (and) maybe take a few more chances to help generate those plays down the field.”

— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) May 28, 2020

Packers have a vision in mind. They’re not telling you this vision. LaFleur also discussed with Wilde and Tauscher how he and Aaron Rodgers are talking four times a week. Four times a week? That is pretty in-depth for a quarterback and a coach in an offseason. They’re learning together. Did LaFleur get stuck in his ways and forget he had Rodgers at quarterback? Sometimes, yes. Packers grinded out games time and again, and they likely were too conservative. LaFleur, Rodgers, and others have plans to change that.

Development is a word that isn’t in most fans’ vocabulary. No one can be patient. People shitted on James Jones early in his career. They shitted on Davante Adams too. Trust me if they drafted a wide receiver at 26, they would be shitting on him too if he struggled as most first-round wide receivers do. Allen Lazard will be in Year 2. Equanimous St. Brown who played well with Rodgers is back from injury. Marquez Valdez-Scantling had a great rookie year and lost confidence in Year 2, that happens, but you can get that back. Jace Sternberger is going to be a huge part of this offense and I’ve already bought all the stock I could. The three-headed monster of Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, and Jamaal Williams will terrify teams late in games. People act like the Packers offense is broken. It is not.

Now if the Packers’ explosive plays do not see an uptick next year with the talent on the field, it’s worth a discussion about LaFleur’s playcalling. But for now, you should be optimistic about what’s next.