Packers coach Mike McCarthy knows his professional future is uncertain | Professional Football

GREEN BAY – Mike McCarthy acknowledged Friday afternoon that he was aware of discussions about his job security and the debate outside the building about whether his 13th year as a Green coach Bay Packers should be his last.

"I do not think you can handle it. It's the old days. That's when you got newspapers, "McCarthy said one day after the Packers defeated the Seattle Seahawks 27-0, threatening them to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row . "But I think that the world today, everything is accessible, everything is instantaneous. I'm sure (the players) are all aware (of the conversation).

"The outsiders will always be there, one way or the other. The head coach, it's important for him to stand in front of that and take it. I strongly believe in "Protect the locker room". It is a constant goal that we have since the first day here. The most important piece of this building is the cloakroom and the hardest work in the building is that of the players. It's our job to prepare and make sure these guys are ready, and it certainly does not help us win if we talk about outside opinions. "

McCarthy insisted that he and his team focus on a decisive game between NFC North and the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 25 in Minneapolis – not his own situation.

"It's the job. That's how this case has evolved, "McCarthy said. "We have been setting a standard here for 12 years and it is our responsibility to meet this standard. That's the way we approach it.

With the new power structure of the team consisting of McCarthy, general manager Brian Gutekunst and executive vice president / director of football operations Russ Ball all reporting to Mark Murphy, chief executive officer of the company. team, Murphy's call will be whether McCarthy has signed a one-year extension contract last season and is under contract until 2019, will be back next season.

Under the orders of US Football Director Ron Ron Wolf (1992-2001) and Gutekunst's predecessor, Ted Thompson (2005-2017), the general manager had the power to hire and fire the coach main.

When the new hierarchy was announced in January, McCarthy and Murphy announced that they would meet regularly. Asked Friday on the progress of these meetings, McCarthy replied: "Things went well. It's informative. I think it's a bigger challenge in season for me than during the off season. "

When asked if his job security had been addressed at these meetings, McCarthy replied, "No. We are talking about the goal – to focus on the winning games, what is ahead of us. "

What's in front of the Packers are six games that will greatly contribute to McCarthy's future. The loss to the Seahawks left the Packers 0-5 on the road this season, trailing the Chicago Bears (6-3) and Vikings (5-3-1), leaders in the division. After the match in Minnesota, a defeat against the Vikings could make the last five games almost irrelevant.

Just two years ago, the Packers were 4-6 after 10 games. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said they could play the role of "table leader" over the past six weeks – and they did so by winning eight consecutive games in total to qualify for the NFC. Championship match, where they fell to the Atlanta Falcons.

It was McCarthy's fourth Green Bay appearance, which led the 2010 Super Bowl XLV team and eight consecutive playoff games before dropping the playoffs last year, while Rodgers missed nine games with a broken right collarbone.

"I have great confidence. I've already held this position before, so I trust our way of doing things, "McCarthy said Friday. "I think it's very important, at these specific times of the season, to … you have to react – there's no question, but you can not overdo it. So you need to be aware of the details and why we do not do it in these situations. "

Against the Seahawks, the Packers had a lead of 21 to 20 to 9 minutes from the end. They faced third-to-five in front of Seattle's 12-yard line when Rodgers was sacked, forcing them to settle for a 24-20 mark. Seattle responded with a 75-yard touchdown to take the lead at 27-24, and when Rodgers missed an easy shot in third down on the resulting possession, McCarthy decided to push the ball back to the fourth and-2 with 4:20 going there rather than going there. Green Bay has never recovered the ball.

It was the third time in four games that the Packers were in the fourth quarter position to win their first win on the road and fail. They had a 27-26 fourth-quarter lead over the Los Angeles Rams on October 28 and tied 17-17 against the New England Patriots on Nov. 4.

"It's hard to lose on the road, it's hard to lose by possession. Obviously, I'm frustrated, not just by the last throw, but by something we could have done better, "admitted Rodgers. "It's an important step, obviously, to six games. I still believe we have a lot to play. "

Veteran rear defender Tramon Williams said, "We will not oppose or anything. We love each other and we unite as a team. Is it frustrating? Yes, it's very frustrating to be a victim of this type of loss when you know you should win these games. "

Delay issues

McCarthy would not go so far as to say that the Packers' offense and he had spoiled two of their three play-offs in the second half, but he admitted that being available late in the game would have helped at least one of its decisions. since been guessed.

McCarthy said the lack of time did not affect his decision not to call into question Russell Wilson's 34-yard victory over Tyler Lockett to reach the touchdown. Instead, he said that the coaches upstairs in the cabin had never seen a good repeat that would have led them to advise him to challenge the call. If McCarthy had contested and the call had not been overturned, the Packers would no longer have had timeout.

"We had no clear information out there," McCarthy said. "Every stage is different. There are not many reruns in this stadium as far as the field. And of course, we did not have the top replay up. "

McCarthy called his decision a "solid decision," but acknowledged that she was open to speculation. He said that he had initially wanted to go there, and then discussed it with his coaches – including the offensive coordinator, Joe Philbin, upstairs – and had opted for an ambush.

"Frankly, these are the kinds of decisions that keep us all up," McCarthy admitted. "Now that I stand here and know what it's like, they say," Oh, yes, I'd like to go fourth and second. "

"My first reaction was to go there. … (But) that's the decision we made. It's a solid decision. As an offensive coach, especially at the beginning of my career, I had to develop a greater sense of operation in team mode, because my natural reaction, especially earlier, was still just right. To go there.

"It's the inside that looks exactly what happened there. You could see at one point that I was starting to go to the referee because I was going to call the time out and just make sure everything was in order (go there) because I was Already had the game I wanted. But we talked about game management and that's the decision I made. "

Bonus points

McCarthy declined to comment on an NFL Network report that veteran Jimmy Graham had fractured his thumb on Thursday and would be sidelined. "I do not have the exact extent of the injury," McCarthy said. … Robert Tonyan, whose first goal of the NFL regular season was marked by a 54-yard touchdown against the Seahawks, is expected to play longer. "Robert is definitely ready," said McCarthy, adding that Tonyan's limited playing time was "really the product of the one in front of him". … Players had a light workout on Friday and the weekend before resuming training on Monday. … McCarthy admitted that playing big rookie Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown with injury-striker Randall Cobb and Geronimo Allison forced him to change his style. "You play with your staff and we have a lot of them. We are not short by any means. No excuse, "said McCarthy," But yes, I think there are definitely things and we have a multiple offense that has a lot of ingenuity, a lot of detail, and that's really the benefit of having Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback (But) it takes time, I do not care who you are, (even) if you're a proven veteran who comes here, so you have some hurdles to overcome. think the kids are doing a good job. "