GREEN BAY — Matt LaFleur sounded like he was just getting warmed up.
The Green Bay Packers head coach was gushing about No. 4 quarterback Taylor Elgersma and what he’d seen from the Canadian import during the Packers’ 23-19 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts last Saturday, when Elgersma played more snaps (37) than primary backup Malik Willis (25) and No. 3 man Sean Clifford (15) with starter Jordan Love resting his surgically repaired left thumb.
But he was also pointing out the rookie mistakes the 6-foot-5, 227-pound Elgersma, who grew up playing hockey and baseball in Canada before taking up football in the 10th grade, made in the game.
LaFleur loved Elgersma’s toughness and willingness to fight for extra yardage despite being hit by defenders — call it a lasting vestige of his days on the ice as a defenseman — but also emphasized that a quarterback shouldn’t be absorbing such punishment.
Or shoving defenders at the end of a touchdown like Amar Johnson’s 9-yard scoring run in the game.
“He likes contact, obviously. He wasn’t about to slide,” LaFleur said of Elgersma’s 4-yard run, on which he got belted by multiple defenders. “I saw him pushing the pile on Amar’s touchdown run. So he’s got to learn to be a little bit smarter, I would say, in that regard.
“I think there were some really good moments that he had in showing the ability to progress, and then there was a couple that [he didn’t].”
And when it came to Elgersma’s 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Sims — a play that didn’t count as it was wiped out by penalty — LaFleur was wowed by Elgersma’s arm strength but less than enamored with his decision making.
“I mean … we can’t throw that ball,” LaFleur said, referring to the two defenders who were bracketing Sims and the ball whizzed past them.
LaFleur also pointed to another bad decision Elgersma made when he forced another ball into coverage and it was picked off — but the turnover was nullified by a Colts penalty.
“And the one that got picked off, you can’t throw that ball [either],” LaFleur continued. “For his first extended action, I thought there was some really good moments and then also some things that you have to learn from.
“But I mean, shoot — he’s still getting used to the field dimensions out there from Canada.”
Indeed, the field is 150 yards long (110 yards plus two 20-yard end zones) and 65 feet wide north of the border, while an official NFL field is 120 yards long (100 yards plus the two 10-yard end zones) and 53 1/3 yards wide. Canadian football is also played with 12 men on the field for each team, versus 11 in America.
But while playing on that bigger field, Elgersma put up some big-time numbers.
Playing for Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, he completed 73.5% of his passes for 4,011 yards with 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a senior last season to win the Hec Crighton Award, the Canadian equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.
“As soon as I picked up the football and started playing, I realized this is what I’m made to do,” Elgersma said. “I feel like I have the skill set and the physicality and the size, the arm and the brain to be a quarterback. It’s just about putting it all together.”
The Packers weren’t the only team interested in him after he took part in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., in January, and teams in his homeland’s Canadian Football League also saw him as a top prospect.
After Elgersma took part in the Packers’ post-NFL Draft minicamp in May, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers took Elgersma in the second round of the CFL Draft a few days later.
“He’s a very, very intelligent football player. Like, off the charts,” said Packers offensive passing game coordinator Jason Vrable, who coached Elgersma at the Senior Bowl. “He picked up the playbook, he commanded the huddle. You could just feel his energy and passion. I thought he did an unbelievable job.”
Based in part on Vrable’s experience with him, the Packers brought Elgersma in for one of their 30 allotted pre-draft visits, then invited him to the rookie minicamp. They saw enough good things from him during the first part of training camp that LaFleur and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich gave Elgersma the lion’s share of the offensive snaps at QB against the Colts — and put him into the game before Clifford went in.
“It was a combination of wanting to see more of what Taylor can do. That was what the mindset was. Just, ‘Hey, let’s get him out there and see what he’s about,’” Stenavich explained. “We’ve seen Sean a lot, but it was also, ‘All right, let’s see what Taylor does with the bulk of the backup reps.’
“It’s going to be interesting.”
It’s hard to imagine the Packers using one of their 53-man roster spots on a third quarterback, even with Love’s surgically repaired left hand still healing. Last year, Clifford was the No. 3 quarterback but was stashed on the practice squad — after being Love’s primary backup as a rookie in 2023 — and it seems unlikely that the team would bring both Clifford and Elgersma back onto the practice squad if they went unclaimed at next week’s final roster reduction.
For now, Elgersma isn’t thinking that far ahead. He’s focused on Thursday’s joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks, and the preseason finale against them two days later.
“I feel like I’m getting better but I feel like I have a long way to go,” Elgersma said. “There’s a lot of things that I can clean up, but I’m showing a progression and I’m putting the work in to get results. I feel comfortable out there and I feel comfortable with the play calls.
“Now, it’s about getting my eyes and feet to tie so that my arm can take over. I feel like I’m getting better every single day.”
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