GREEN BAY http://www.tampabaybuccaneersteamonline.com/mike-edwards-jersey , Wis. (AP) — New Packers coach Matt LaFleur had a long to-do list even before his players arrived for the start of offseason workouts this week. Mike McCarthy has bubbled into the spring, with McCarthy ripping the front office for how it handled his dismissal, and star quarterback Aaron Rodgers defending himself after coming under fire over his performance and leadership.Enveloped by controversies that predated his arrival in January, LaFleur faces the challenge of turning around a franchise that reached the playoffs eight consecutive seasons — including one Super Bowl victory and two more appearances in conference championship games — before having back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since the early 1990s.It’s going to take more than a fresh coat of paint down the hallway that leads from the locker room to the field and reassigned seats in the team meeting room to get the Packers back into championship contention.“We had a standard here of going to the playoffs every single year,” Rodgers said Wednesday. “We did that eight years in a row and we were competitive and in the mix, and then the last couple of years, obviously, have been frustrating to finish.“I think we’re in a good spot. I think there isn’t a grace period. This isn’t like other transitions where you maybe give a pass for the first year or two as you get acclimated to the system. We have a veteran quarterback, veteran offensive linemen, we signed some big free agents. There’s an expectation living and playing here that you’re going to compete for championships, and I think we all expect to do that.”Rodgers and LaFleur will be at the center of reaching those expectations. Rodgers, 35, played through a serious knee injury to start all 16 games last season, but endured one of his worst years of his career. LaFleur, 39, will be tasked with getting Rodgers back to his two-time MVP form and changing the culture of a team that had hit hard times during the final two seasons of McCarthy’s 13-year tenure.After running McCarthy’s offense throughout his first 11 seasons as starting quarterback, Rodgers is getting his first taste of what LaFleur wants to do. At the scouting combine in February, LaFleur said offensive success required a “partnership” between himself and Rodgers.“Matt’s whole idea,” said Rodgers’ No. 1 target, receiver Davante Adams, “he’s really open and receptive to how Aaron and I want to attack this season and how we feel moving forward, bringing certain things from the past that we liked http://www.tampabaybuccaneersteamonline.com/matt-gay-jersey , and just having an open mind, which is a great thing when you’re coming in trying to get a team to buy in.”A new coach and new playbook aren’t the only big changes. Two longtime stalwarts, receiver Randall Cobb and linebacker Clay Matthews, departed in free agency. Meanwhile, they added outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith, safety Adrian Amos and offensive lineman Billy Turner in free agency. A pair of first-round picks will infuse more talent.“Change, it can be really good if you embrace it,” Rodgers said.Echoing what LaFleur has said, Rodgers added the play caller/quarterback relationship will be critical to reversing the team’s fortunes. Rodgers talked to one of LaFleur’s former pupils, a Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, to get a gauge on his new boss.Impressed by what he heard, and with his injured knee healed, Rodgers was eager to get to Green Bay to start fostering that relationship and to shake off the sting of last season’s 6-9-1 debacle.“Having that much time off was different,” said Rodgers, who had grown accustomed to playing into January.“I know many of us were itching to get back here and get started. Anytime you’ve gone through a stretch like we went through where everything was very similar — similar faces, there might be some changes, similar plays, similar environment you’re working in — you get used to that and accustomed that.“When things change, it kind of jogs the system a little bit. It’s exciting, though, to see the energy and the excitement. It’s usually like this the first week, but I feel good about the potential to sustain this type of energy as we move into it later this month and get into the minicamp. And then obviously we have a number of high picks http://www.tennesseetitansteamonline.com/a.j.-brown-jersey , so there should be a lot of excitement with our fan base. There is definitely in the locker room. It’s been a good start to the change.” Fresh off their first Super Bowl title, the Philadelphia Eagles arrived home to a hero’s welcome Monday afternoon, hours after overjoyed fans mobbed the streets in a sometimes unruly victory celebration nearly 60 years in the making.

Hundreds of fans greeted the team’s plane at Philadelphia International Airport, cheering wildly and singing ”Fly Eagles Fly” as Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie emerged with the Lombardi Trophy.

After getting off the plane, Lurie, Coach Doug Pederson and stars like tight end Zach Ertz and running back LeGarrette Blount approached the chain-link fence separating the team from the fans, smiling, pumping their arms and shooting video with their phones. Fans stood on cars and news trucks to catch a glimpse.

”It’s been a long journey to redemption,” said John Hall, 49, who works at Philadelphia’s public transit agency. ”We don’t have to hear the negative anymore, that we don’t have a ring. It’s official now.”

Dan Mazzoli, 53, a disabled construction worker and die-hard fan from New Jersey, shared the moment with his 12-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.

”We’ve been waiting for this all our lives,” he said.

Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles, the unassuming backup quarterback who took over for injured star Carson Wentz and played brilliantly throughout the playoffs, wasn’t on the team plane. Foles headed – where else? – to Disney World, riding a float at the Orlando resort and fist-bumping Mickey Mouse amid a shower of green confetti.

”It’s all right to yell,” he told the cheering crowd. ”We’re world champs! We did it! We did it!”

The underdog Eagles won their first NFL championship since 1960 on Sunday night with a surprise 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots, ending a drought that had long tormented the city’s football-crazed fans. Philly was the only team in the Northeast Corridor to have never won a Super Bowl.

The city scheduled a victory parade for Thursday along a 5-mile route that will stretch from the Eagles stadium complex to the steps of the Philadelphia art museum, whose steps Sylvester Stallone ran up during ”Rocky.” It’s a fitting ending point for a team that Stallone had cheered on throughout the playoffs.

Revelers along the parade route will be able to indulge in free Bud Light at two dozen bars http://www.tennesseetitansteamonline.com/amani-hooker-jersey , thanks to a promise the beer maker made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season.

Philly had some cleaning up to do Monday after pockets of Eagles fans turned unruly overnight, with rowdies smashing department store windows, looting a gas station convenience store and toppling a number of the city’s famously greased light poles. The police commissioner said he and other officers were hit with bottles.

The vast majority of revelers celebrated peacefully, and police made only three arrests, said Ajeenah Amir, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Kenney.

”Tens of thousands came out and celebrated this amazing victory, and but for a handful of bad actors, the celebration was peaceful and jubilant,” Amir said. She lauded police for ”their assistance in getting the crowds dispersed and people home safely.”

Just as Foles and the Eagles clinched victory in Minneapolis, the scene more than 1,000 miles away in Philly was one of jubilation and pandemonium.

Revelers shot off fireworks, drivers beeped their horns and Philadelphians young and old descended on Broad Street, the main thoroughfare that last hosted a major championship parade in 2008 for the Phillies’ World Series win.

”The city deserved it,” said 66-year-old Lou Potel, who threw a party at his home just off Broad before joining a much bigger party outside. ”It’s a great city, and now we have a Super Bowl to go along with it.”

Fans clambered atop the awning at the swanky Ritz Carlton Hotel near City Hall, jumping off into the crowd in what one Twitter post called ”Ritz Carlton Skydiving.” The awning later collapsed with a large group of people on top of it. It wasn’t clear if anyone was injured.

Nearby, windows were smashed at a Macy’s department store and at an Old Navy clothing store.

And apparently no amount of grease in the world can keep some drunken Eagles fans from climbing poles in celebration. A few managed to shimmy up traffic lights and street sign poles.

Amir said there were reports of some injuries from falls near light poles but precise numbers weren’t available.

Vandals were seen having an apparent food fight inside a gas station’s convenience store, yelling ”Everything is free!” and overturning a car outside a hotel. After 1 a.m., the only people allowed inside the 24-hour Wawa convenience store near City Hall were police officers.

—

Associated Press writers Kristen De Groot in Philadelphia and Michael Rubinkam in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.