Cheese Curds, 1/4: Rodgers-McCarthy discord is in the news as Packers dive into interviews

It’s a big weekend for the Green Bay Packers. Top decision-makers for the franchise will conduct five interviews over the next three days as part of the team’s search to replace Mike McCarthy.

The schedule sets up like this. Friday will be spent in Foxboro, Massachusetts, with the team interviewing Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in the morning and linebackers coach Brian Flores in the afternoon. Then it’s a plane ride down to New Orleans to meet with Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and tight ends coach Dan Campbell on Saturday. Finally, the weekend wraps up with a meeting between Packers brass and Titans OC Matt LaFleur.

Today’s interviews come in light of a new first-hand account of the discord between McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Tight end Marcedes Lewis spoke about the issues on Thursday, providing a bit of an outsider’s perspective. Keep in mind that Lewis had spent the entirety of his NFL career in Jacksonville before signing with the Packers last May, so he presumably had no strong allegiance to either of the two men. Likewise, Lewis will be a free agent and seems unlikely to return for 2019. Combined, those factors suggest that his account is reasonably accurate, rather than skewing the story to favor either of the two sides.

Let’s check out the details as told by Lewis and much more in today’s Curds.

Packers TE explained the Aaron Rodgers, Mike McCarthy feud | Yahoo! Sports
Marcedes Lewis only saw about 200 snaps all season long, so if he saw several instances of tension between Rodgers and McCarthy -- including Rodgers simply ignoring playcalls -- you know it was happening frequently.

Matt LaFleur can offer more than pedigree to Packers | Packers Wire
We discussed LaFleur’s background on Thursday, but this piece dives a little more into his focus areas -- particularly, working closely with quarterbacks, which could be ideal given the issues that Aaron Rodgers displayed in 2018.

Keeping Mike Pettine could be key for Packers' D to make big jump - ESPN
Part of the argument is that the defensive players aren't excited about learning a new scheme in back-to-back years. Still, Pettine didn't improve the defense's results all that much from Com Capers' levels, though he had massive quantities of injuries to deal with.

Former Packers safety LeRoy Butler fails to make Hall of Fame cut | Packersnews.com
With Jerry Kramer in Canton, it's time to throw the collective weight of Packers fandom behind Butler in 2019.

‘Gray Ghost of Gonzaga’ was third rusher in NFL history to surpass 1,000 yards | Packers.com
Tony Canadeo was a star player for the Packers, despite playing for some bad teams towards the end of his career. He later became a close friend to Vince Lombardi and served on the Packers' executive committee for over 35 years.

Restaurant Removes Sign Over Concerns of Offensiveness - NBC Connecticut
The Vietnamese restaurant, located in Keene, New Hampshire, was to be named "Pho Keene Great."