Only the person in charge of playing the horn sound effect at U.S. Bank Stadium knows how many times it turns up the decibel level each game, but they might want to hit that button a few more times when the Packers visit for the season opener on Sunday.
Why? Because Green Bay head Matt LaFleur thinks it’s “annoying.”
“[We] love going into a hostile environment like Minnesota. Hear that annoying horn that they like to blow, and the Skol chant,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “It’s kind of the guys on that sideline, the guys in that locker room versus the entire stadium.”
LaFleur has coached the Packers inside U.S. Bank Stadium three times. He beat the Vikings 23-10 in 2019 to clinch the NFC North, beat them again without any fans in the stands in 2020 and then lost 34-31 last season.
“You’re talking about a North division rival. A team that has incredible talent,” LaFleur said. “I just think it’s one of the most hostile environments that we play in every year, so hopefully our Packer fans will show up in droves and support us.”
This will be Aaron Rodgers’ 15th game playing in Minnesota. He’s 7-7 overall, having gone 3-3 at the Metrodome, 2-0 at what was formerly known as TCF Bank Stadium, and 2-4 at U.S. Bank Stadium.
“We’ve dealt with the noise there before. It’s a loud stadium. We’ve won some games there,” said Rodgers. “It’s a tough place to play. Especially Week 1 with all of the excitement of a new season. I’m sure they’ll be amped up.”
LaFleur mentioned the crowd noise causing an “inability to hear on most snap counts,” but Rodgers says it’s nothing like the Metrodome.
“It’s a loud stadium. No disrespect, but it’s not louder than the old Metrodome. That was really difficult to play. That was like Seattle in its heyday when you just couldn’t hear anything. This is still really loud,” Rodgers said.
What about Za’Darius Smith’s revenge game?
LaFleur and Rodgers were asked about a report from Tyler Dunne of Go Long in which Za’Darius Smith, who played for the Packers from 2019 to 2021, is quoted as saying he was “treated bad” in his final season in Green Bay.
“I think that again, I respect the crap out of Z as a player. He busted his butt, did a lot of great things. I think we may have a different perspective of how things transpired, so we’ll just leave it at that,” said LaFleur.
Rodgers said: “I was made aware of that. I don’t want to add any fuel to the fire. I’ll just echo what Matt said.”
