A lot was written and said of Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur going against his brother during the regular-season meeting with the San Francisco 49ers. This week is no different.
The coach's brother is Mike LaFleur, the passing-game coordinator with San Francisco.
The two are best friends. Typically, they talk to each other daily and root for each other. That isn't the case this week.
"It is the Green Bay Packers versus the San Francisco 49ers," Matt LaFleur told reporters via a conference call on Wednesday. "As soon as it's kicked off, that's where your focus lies. As a matter of fact, that's where your focus is all week of preparation.
"Certainly, after the game, you always want to see your brother do well. Unfortunately, we're trying to take something away from him, and he's trying to do the same to us. Although you'll be ecstatic for yourself, for your football team, you're going to be hurting for the other guy."
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan knows what it's like to coach against family. At one point in his career, he went against his father, Mike Shanahan, when Kyle was the offensive coordinator in Houston, and Mike was the head coach in Denver.
"It's always a little bit different just because of how close you are with the other person," Shanahan said Wednesday of the matchup between the LaFleur brothers. "I know Matt and Mike are as close as any brothers could be just like most people are with siblings, but it really doesn't matter.
"There's a lot of talk to it and stuff, but I mean, there's no feeling when that game goes on, there's no feelings when you're studying and preparing. Everyone cares about the other person. I know if we weren't in it, I know he'd be pulling for his brother just like when I wasn't going against my dad, I was always pulling for him. But, I know when you go against each other, that stuff doesn't matter. Everyone's got a job to do, and everyone is pretty competitive and wants to win, also."
Matt LaFleur tried to bring in his brother, Mike, after landing the Packers' head coaching job a year ago. Shanahan denied Green Bay's request to interview his assistant.
Shanahan later explained that he denied the request by the Packers, along with those from the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings, because Mike LaFleur wasn't being offered a position where he would be given play-calling responsibilities.
