Paul Bretl | 11/15/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Injuries were an unfortunate part of the first half of the season for Packers’ quarterback Jordan Love. However, coming off the bye week, Love is feeling refreshed.
“It’ll be good to just get him some practice under his belt where he’s fully healthy,” Matt LaFleur said on Wednesday. “That’s the other thing you know, going back to last game, he didn’t even practice the full week. So just confident that a full weeks of worth of practice and then stacking those days, you know, will definitely be beneficial for him.”
An MCL sprain in the final seconds of the Packers’ season opener against Philadelphia would sideline Love for two games. He would then suffer a groin injury early in Green Bay’s Week 8 matchup with Jacksonville, which eventually led to Malik Willis taking over for much of the second half.
But in addition to the missed game time for Love this season, the injuries have also hampered his ability to be on the practice field. Whether it be fully missing practices, which was the case in the early going as Love navigated the MCL sprain and on the Wednesday prior to the Packers’ game with Detroit, or being available but limited, Love has missed out on a number of live reps in the first half of the season.
“Any time you miss a day and aren’t able to practice is obviously not ideal,” said Love at his locker on Wednesday, “like I’ve talked about before, but it’s one of those things, control what you can control, gotta go out there and get those mental reps, be great in the film room throughout the week. But yeah, being out there, 100%, feeling good, is what I’d like to keep it throughout the rest of the season.”
On the season, Love has completed 61.3 percent of his passes, which ranks 31st out of 41 eligible quarterbacks, at 7.6 yards per attempt with 15 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. The low completion percentage is, in part, a product of dropped passes by Green Bay’s receivers, and certainly, some of the interceptions are due to poor decisions. But Love’s off-target throws at times have also played a factor in those results.
As we’ve often heard quarterbacks coach Tom Clements reference over the years, successfully playing the quarterback position often starts with the player’s base–their feet and legs. That’s where both the ability to drive the ball and accuracy begins, and in theory, with Love’s lower-half not at 100 percent, that could have contributed to some of the uncharacteristic throws we’ve seen from him this season.
“Everybody’s dealing with something, I would say,” said LaFleur, “but certainly when you’re limited in your lower half as a quarterback, is, is really with any type of thrower that can have a big effect on your ability to just move around in the pocket or throw accurately.”
However, if you ask Love, if he’s on the field, regardless of how he’s feeling, it’s up to him to perform at a high level.
“Whenever you’re not 100% with injuries it’s gonna affect whatever,” said Love, “but I take it upon myself, if I’m good enough to be out there, I’m feeling that responsibility to be at my best, so that’s never an excuse.
“Obviously there’s things that you’re limited doing, moving out the pocket, things like that, but any time you’re out there on the field, you gotta be able to go out there and play your best for myself, for the guys around me and for this team, so that’s never an excuse I’m gonna use.”
Beyond the mechanics, Love dealing with lower-body injuries also impacted his mobility. The obvious is that then limits Love’s ability to extend plays and go off-script outside of the pocket. But it also hampered the Packers’ ability to line up under center, limiting their ability to utilize play-action, not to mention that movement at the quarterback position, particularly off of the run game is a staple of the LaFleur offense.
“I wouldn’t say adjust your expectations, you just kind of have to limit what you ask of him,” said Adam Stenavich about navigating Love’s injuries. “But he’s out there playing so you just gotta make sure, if he’s out there, like we talked about a couple weeks ago, protecting yourself, being able to scramble, being able to get out of trouble, whatever that dictates. No he’s looked really good this week and the bye came at a good time for him just to get his legs back and hopefully we can feel good moving forward.”
During the second half of the season, the Packers offense is chasing consistency, something that eluded them through the first nine games. A key factor in achieving that will be fewer self-inflicted errors, which includes pre-snap penalties, but a less boom-or-bust passing game will be a key component as well.
Having a healthy version of Love should provide an obvious boost in that regard, from the additional practice time and continuity that comes with that to improved mechanics and being able to work within the full scope of the LaFleur offense.
“I’m definitely feeling good, feeling better, so ready to go this week,” Love said.