Matt LaFlaeur's reaction to losing Aaron Jones goes beyond just football

The Green Bay Packers went on a Cinderella run in the NFL playoffs, making it to the Divisional Round as a Wild Card team by defeating the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round, while putting up a fight against the San Francisco 49ers. This offseason, the Packers decided to bolster their roster to ensure they can make a deeper run in the playoffs next year.

One of their big moves was signing former Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs to a four-year, $48 million contract. With that, Packers fans thought the team would have a dynamic duo of Jacobs and Aaron Jones. But a matter of hours later, Jones was released from his contract, and signed a one-year deal with the rival Minnesota Vikings.

The Jacobs signing did take Packers fans off guard. As it turns out, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was also caught off-guard by the signing while speaking with The Athletic's Matt Schneidman ($).

“I don’t know all the details of that,” LaFleur said. “I’m not involved in those types of conversations, but yeah, we were super excited.”

Matt LaFleur says he will miss Aaron Jones' leadership

While Jacobs will bring explosiveness to the Packers offense, LaFleur notes that they will miss one aspect Jones brought to the team -- leadership.

“I think not only the football player, but the man," said LaFleur. "We’ve spoken so many times just how much he brought to our team that probably will never show up on the stat sheet in terms of just being a veteran presence in the locker room. He’s always been team-first. He walks the walk and he does everything. He’s just such a pro, so I think that’s always tough to replace."

In terms of the leadership vacancy left by Jones, LaFleur said he expects quarterback Jordan Love and other players to step up and "shoulder some of that leadership moving forward."

As noted earlier, Jones didn't take long to find a new home after his release. One day later, Jones signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the Vikings, and will now play the Packers twice this upcoming season. It is yet another example of Packers fans seeing a notable former player suiting up in the purple and gold in Minnesota.

In seven years with the Packers, Jones ran for 5,940 yards and 45 touchdowns on 1,177 carries, while catching 272-of-364 targets for 2,076 yards and 18 touchdowns.

While Jones had a tremendous impact on the field, as evidenced by his 118 rushing yards and three rushing touchdown performance in the Wild Card Round against the Cowboys, LaFleur will miss the leadership Jones brought to the team.