Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard on Clubhouse Live: Team resilient in OT win over Bengals

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard co-hosted Monday's Clubhouse Live, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s live weekly football show. Packers quarterback Jordan Love was Lazard’s guest. 

The show can be seen live at The Clubhouse Sports Pub & Grill in downtown Appleton or on any of our USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Facebook pages or websites, including clubhouselive.com. It can also be seen on our YouTube channel.

Here are select and edited answers from the interview:

REPLAY:  Watch Clubhouse Live with Allen Lazard and Jordan Love

Q: With all that was going on at the end of regulation and in overtime during Sunday's victory over the Bengals, how do you keep your composure and focus as you're riding that emotional roller coaster? 

Lazard: (Sunday) is a great example of something that we train for in a sense. In the offseason, we put in all these hours of lifting weights, running on the field, running routes with nobody there for moments like that - for (Sunday) where it's a tougher environment, things aren't going the way you want them to go. You're physically fatigued. Emotionally drained. But yet, you still have to battle through it. And so, I think that kind of shows the resilience that our team has and the training that we put in during the offseason to be able to show out and win those games.

Q: What does it say to you about Mason Crosby's mental toughness in how he was able to quickly block out his earlier missed field goal attempts and drill that game-winning 49-yarder late in overtime?

Lazard: I think that goes to show you why he is who he is, or why he has been doing this for such a long time. Why he has all the numbers that he has. Because he knows how to bounce back in tough situations. And I think it goes to show you coach (Matt) LaFleur, too, on how he trusts his players. Obviously, it's a very tough position to be in as a coach. Do you want to keep going for it, or do you want to trust the kicker who has just missed (three) field goals? So, props to coach LaFleur for believing in his players and trusting them and taking their word of they were going to get the job done when they're asked upon.

Q: We've already talked a bunch about Davante Adams and the season he's putting together. He finished with a career-high 206 yards on 11 receptions against the Bengals and leads the NFL in receptions with 42 and receiving yards with 579. What are we watching in him right now?

Lazard: (Smiling) Aliens. But you guys don't want to believe me. I'm trying to tell you, I see these guys every day. They're aliens. I think it's just a testament to the work that those guys put in every single day. Since those guys have gotten in the league - you look at Aaron (Rodgers) and his story of overcoming adversity, especially early on in his career having to sit on the bench for a few years and everything. Following Brett (Favre) and all that. You can see Davante - and we were just talking the other night of just the whole 2014 (NFL) draft class. It was a very deep class of just very talented players. And for him to be the ninth receiver off the board in the second round seems crazy. But you just look at how deep that was and how much talent came from that, and for those guys to still be able to rise above the crop and separate themselves from everybody else consistently throughout their entire careers is just a testament to how much hard work that they have put in and just the chemistry that they have, as well.

Q: Was there one specific moment - maybe it was OTAs, maybe it was in the preseason games, maybe it was when you got some playing time against the Saints in Week 1 - when you felt the game at the pro level really started to slow down for you? 

Love: The first preseason game against the Texans, just getting out there and playing in a real game. I think that's when it was like, "OK, we're back." I hadn't played a game in a year and some change. So just being able to get back out there and be live. It's different in practice knowing you're not going to get hit and then getting into a game and it's like, "OK, these dudes are trying to take my head off out here, so you've got to get the ball out." So, I think it was just awesome to get those reps, and I think that's kind of when it clicked.

Contact Brett Christopherson at (920) 993-7117 or bchristopherson@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PCBrettC.