Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard on Clubhouse Live: Team 'ready to go out and be better'

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard (left) co-hosted Monday's Clubhouse Live. Packers rookie tight end Josiah Deguara (right) was Lazard's guest.

Green Bay Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard co-hosted Monday's Clubhouse Live, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin’s live weekly football show. Packers rookie tight end Josiah Deguara was Lazard's guest.

Among the topics they touched on were Sunday's setback against Tampa Bay, the ability to learn and move on, practice time and preparing for life in the NFL. The show can be seen live 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:

WATCH:  Clubhouse Live with Allen Lazard and Josiah Deguara

Q: What was the mood like at the facility on Monday coming off that lopsided loss to the Buccaneers? 

Lazard: Everyone, obviously, was very disappointed at themselves with the outcome (Sunday). But everyone's still very upbeat and happy to be around each other, still ready to go out and be better today. And that's all we can do at this point. So you go in there, view the film, diagnose it and correct it. 

Q: How do you train yourself to move on after a bad play or rough loss and not dwell on the negative so you don't let that carry over to the next play or game?

Lazard: With football, you're going to have your losses, you're going to have your ups and downs. For me, and I think a lot of professionals, they've integrated that (mindset) into their life, as well. You really understand that nothing's going to be perfect, nothing's going to go exactly as planned. The better that you understand that - own the moment, get it over with and move on - will really help you excel in the future. ... So I think we've just got to be able to go own the tape and be able to move on and realize that we could have played better. We had mistakes. We didn't play our best. But we still have a lot to go play for. So the goal is still feasible and still able to reach.

Q: Matt LaFleur and Aaron Rodgers were critical with how practice went last week as the team prepared for Tampa Bay. Does how you practice often correlate with how you plan on Sundays? Is that something you've experienced during your football career, regardless of the level?

Lazard: Absolutely. That's something that I've really learned since I've joined the Packers. And I think that has really helped me excel and put myself in the position I'm in today of realizing that and understanding that. It took me a while to fully understand that whole concept and understanding how when you push yourself to be the best you want to be every single day, you're only going to naturally get better. And really, you're going to skyrocket. We have this saying up in our locker room, too, as we walk out to practice: "Preparation equals game reality." That's something that the organization preaches, something that we really own in our locker room. That happens. People just have a down week of practice. It could be multiple things that could lead to that and a bad performance. We're all human. We're not perfect. We've just got to be able to bounce back and keep moving forward.

Q: You played collegiately at the University of Cincinnati, which has produced some pretty good tight ends in All-Pro Travis Kelce of Kansas City and the now-retired Brent Celek. How did those guys help prepare you for the NFL?

Deguara: I think the biggest thing I got from both of them - speaking to both of them in the pre-draft process - was really just to be confident in my abilities and control what I can control. The big thing that Travis said to me right after I got drafted was you go in as a rookie - and you're looked at as a younger guy, obviously - but you want to go in with the mindset that you're going to be the best player on the team and make an impact right away. So that's kind of the mindset that I went in with. And being able to see what (Kelce) does in the league, to be able to talk to a guy like that whenever I need advice or something, it's pretty cool. 

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