In addition to sharing the offensive player of the week award with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers receiver Allen Lazard earned recognition as the team’s special teams player of the week.
Coach Matt LaFleur pointed out Lazard’s efforts on special teams a day after the Packers delivered a 31-13 win over the New York Giants.
“He not only did it on offense, but on special teams as well,” LaFleur said Monday. “We had two offensive players of the week in Aaron Rodgers and Allen Lazard, and Allen also was our special teams player of the week. I think that’s a great message to everybody in that locker room. You can play, whether it’s offense or defense, at a high level, but also go out here and play special teams at a high level.”
Lazard was a difference-maker on offense. He caught all three of his targets, produced his first 100-yard receiving game in the NFL and sparked the Packers’ fast start on offense, catching 43-yard pass on the first drive and a 37-yard score on the second. He was also a standout as a blocker in the run game, using his big frame and physical style to get people blocked in the box and on the perimeter.
But for every big play he delivered on offense, Lazard produced another while chasing down returners on kick coverage.
He tallied a pair of solid tackles covering kickoffs. On the first, he beat a block head-on and knifed in to cut down the returner short of the 25-yard line. Later, he battled through a pair of blockers and blew up the returner – with help from linebacker Oren Burks – after a 17-yard return. On a third return, he got off another block and funneled the returner into two waiting tacklers.
The Packers limited the Giants to 19.3 yards per kick return over six returns, with a long return of only 23 yards.
With two more tackles on Sunday, Lazard is now third on the team in special teams tackles with six, despite playing the ninth-most snaps.
“He’s earned everything he’s gotten,” LaFleur said. “Just shows up every day. Knows what to do. You know you’re going to get max effort from him. You can see it in the run game, he’s physical, he blocks. Every play, he’s going to leave it all out there.”
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