blocked field goal that robbed Green Bay of the winning points and set up the Browns for the win.

“The unfortunate thing about special teams in general is when there is a mistake, a lot of times they’re catastrophic mistakes,” LaFleur said a day after the 13-10 loss.

A few days later, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was relayed LaFleur’s comments.

“Well, I don’t see the word ‘catastrophic’ being in football but no disrespect to that,” he said.

On Sunday night, the Packers tied the Dallas Cowboys 40-40. The game turned when the Cowboys blocked an extra point and returned it for two points, a play that was much more than a three-point swing.

On Tuesday, with the Packers starting their bye week, LaFleur again used the world “catastrophic.”

“The glaring ones is the blocks, right? You got a blocked field goal then you got a blocked PAT. Certainly, those were huge plays,” LaFleur said.

“It’s never one play why you win or lose. Obviously, those were pretty big plays in the game. But we shuffled some personnel around. I thought it was really encouraging to see us hit a 53-yarder to send it into overtime and then to come back and hit a game-tying field goal in overtime. I think if we can just clean up those catastrophic errors – which, you know, that’s a big ‘if’ – we’ll be in a lot better spot.”

Against Cleveland, the killer block ruined what was an otherwise strong day for Green Bay’s special teams. Against Dallas, the block was part of a mostly poor night.

While Brandon McManus hit a couple huge field goals, he had to make two tackles in kickoff coverage, including one near midfield after the Packers had just taken a 34-30 lead with 1:45 to play. With a sore back, he winced his way through the game-tying field goal.

Meanwhile, simply fielding the ball remains a challenge for both phases of returns. The Packers have a two-time All-Pro returner on their roster with Keisean Nixon. They had a former All-Pro returner on their practice squad with Mecole Hardman.

Instead, they continue to go with rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden on punt returns and rookie third-round pick Savion Williams on kickoff returns.

Why?

“Because we feel like they give us the best chance of being successful,” LaFleur said.

Williams, who last returned kickoffs as a freshman at TCU in 2020, ranks 28th out of 40 qualifying players with a 24.4-yard average. Three times on Sunday night, he failed to field a kickoff that landed inside the landing zone and was downed in the end zone, meaning the Packers had to start at their 20.

“We have got to make every attempt to try to catch those in the air because that’s drastic when you’re talking most of these returns are going out to at least the 28-yard line,” LaFleur said, speaking specifically about the one Wiliams didn’t field at the end of the first half, a drive that ended in Jordan Love’s critical fumble.

“You’re talking about a difference of 8 yards at a bare minimum; in my opinion, I think we’ll get it out every time past the 30. Yeah, we’ve got to field those. We’ve got to be better in those situations.”

Golden, who last week said he hadn’t returned punts in his life, ranks last out of 19 qualifying players with a 4.7-yard average. His indecisiveness has allowed some catchable punts to hit the ground. On one he did field against Dallas, he got smashed after a spin move.

From LaFleur’s perspective, the growing pains the rookies are enduring now will pay dividends.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “You’ve got to get experience one way or the other. They do a great job in practice. Yeah, I get it, a game’s a little bit different than practice, especially when you’re catching kicks because, in practice, nobody’s going to blow you up.

“In the game, we all saw what happened to Golden. He got thumped pretty good. I did think his pop-up game was on point, though. He showed some toughness. I talked to him about it today. I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t think you were going to get up.’ He’s a tough guy. We’ve got a lot of confidence in both those guys and belief that they’re going to continue to get better and better.”

Through four games:

– McManus is 24th in field-goal percentage (7-of-9 for 77.8 percent).

– Daniel Whelan is 11th in net average (42.9).

– In returns, Green Bay is 12th on kickoffs (25.8) and 30th on punts (5.2).

– In coverage, Green Bay is 28th on kickoffs (28.1) and 20th on punts (12.0).

Really, it’s business as usual for the Packers’ chronically terrible special teams.

For now, LaFleur would be thrilled to successfully kick the ball. If not for the blocked field goal at Cleveland, the Packers would have started 3-0. That mistake wasn’t just a blip on the radar. The first extra point at Dallas was almost blocked. The second one was blocked.

On the next kick, Karl Brooks was the right-side wing in place of Luke Musgrave.

“I’m confident that we shuffled around some personnel and it looks a lot cleaner right now,” LaFleur said.