Source - Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton out after blunders in playoff loss

GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second straight offseason, the Green Bay Packers have made a change at special teams coordinator. It means coach Matt LaFleur will have his third different person running those units as he heads into his fourth season as the head coach.

Maurice Drayton is out from the role after special teams blunders played a major role in the Packers' 13-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC divisional playoff round, a source confirmed to ESPN.

The news was first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Packers earned the top seed in the NFC despite special teams issues that lasted throughout the season. Drayton's units ranked 31st in ESPN's FPI and dead last in Rick Gosselin's widely respected special teams rankings.

Drayton becomes the eighth straight Packers special teams coordinator to be pushed out. Six were fired and two were forced into retirement.

Drayton took over last offseason after LaFleur fired Shawn Mennenga, who lasted two seasons. Drayton, who had served as an assistant under Mennenga, couldn't get the units going.

In the loss to the 49ers, the Packers became the first team in 33 years to have both a punt and a field goal blocked during the same playoff game. The blocked field goal came on a 39-yard attempt on the final play of the first half that would have given the Packers a 10-0 lead. The blocked punt came with the Packers at their own 12-yard line, and the 49ers returned it for a touchdown — their only one of the game. That tied the game at 10-10 with 4:41 left.

«You could argue that was the difference in the game,» LaFleur said of the blocked punt. «But I think it was more than just that play.»

The Packers also allowed a 45-yard kickoff return that set up a 49ers field goal