Paul Bretl | 7/22/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Sure, on paper, Jordan Love’s numbers in his second season as the Packers’ starting quarterback weren’t what they were the year before. However, Love doesn’t believe that he or the team took a step backwards either.
“I mean, what is a step back is what I’d ask? You know what I mean?” Love said to a question about his performance in 2024. “Everybody has different opinions, things like that. You gotta block that stuff out. It’s all about the goals of the team at the end of the day. I’d say we won more games than we did the year before. That’s why I ask people what is a step back?
“Like I said, everybody has opinions, things like that. Try to block that out and focus on doing me and being the best player I can be, like I’ve talked about and go forward. But at the end of the day, personal stats, things like that, that’s all in the back. You gotta focus on the goals of the team, first and foremost.”
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As head coach Matt LaFleur often says, the quarterback often gets too much of the credit when things are going well and too much of the blame when things are going poorly. Outside of Love’s control, there are several reasons why his production wasn’t the same.
For one, he was dealing with a knee injury that kept him out of two games. Love also exited the game against Jacksonville early, as well as the team’s Week 18 matchup with Chicago.
For some added context, Love threw 154 fewer passes in 2024 compared to 2023, which of course, is going to hurt his production.
But in addition to that, inconsistency at the receiver position also played a role. The Packers, as a team, were among the league leaders in dropped passes. Mistimed or wrong routes were too often an occurrence, and at times, the receivers struggled to create consistent separation in their one-on-one matchups.
“That’s really the whole part of the offense we need to keep growing, keep finding that consistent just being on the same page with each other, every play,” Love said. “There’s a couple plays we’ll have some good body language I’m able to read and understand where they’re going to be at, and there’s sometimes where we’re just not on the same page.
“That just comes with reps, being on the same page, and going through different things, seeing different looks with everything we do. Every rep we get is very valuable in that, and that’s going to be the test for us this year is how close can we get, how much can we be on the same page.”
The injury that Love dealt with was a factor in last season’s performance and the overall numbers. The play of his wide receivers were a factor as well. All of that is true. What’s up for interpretation, however, is what percentage of the pie those factors played in determining how the season unfolded–and ultimately ended–for Love and the Packers’ offense as a whole.
While yes, as Love mentions, the Packers did win more games in 2024 than they did in 2023, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters most. But Green Bay also ended the season on a three-game losing streak and were eliminated in the NFC Wildcard round after being on the cusp of going to the NFC Championship game the year prior.
Rather than ending the season and going into the postseason operating as one of the best offenses in football, as was the case in 2023, the Packers found themselves sputtering in 2024. Making sure that doesn’t happen again begins with Love, he is the quarterback after all, but it’ll take a group effort and more consistency overall.
“There’s a lot of things,” said Love when asked what he’s worked on this offseason. “Right now, when we’re just passing and catching, it’s just trying to be as consistent as possible with accuracy, ball placement, things like that, the timing of my feet, timing up with the routes, trying to marry all that stuff up.
“It’s always a little different when you go routes vs. air and then you start getting back into team and seven-on-seven routes where you’ve got defense out there. Just try to be as consistent as possible with accuracy and all those little things until we start going more live reps.”
An added emphasis for Love this offseason has also been on being a more vocal leader. Love’s leadership on this Packers team has never been in question. He’s well-respected, and when he speaks, the team listens. But now, as he enters his third season as the starter, LaFleur wants more of that from Love, and his teammates have already noticed a difference.
On the practice field during OTAs and minicamp, there’s only so much that can be gleaned. But with that said, Love looked incredibly crisp this spring, and he was operating the offense at a very high level during the few competitive periods.
Love obviously shoulders a lot of responsibility as the quarterback when it comes to the play of the Packers’ offense, but there has to be proper balance around him as well. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, what we saw from the Packers late in the 2023 season has to be closer to the norm than what we saw down the stretch in 2024.
“For him, it’s consistency in everything he does,” said offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich about Love. “Improving accuracy, improving his footwork, and just really taking command of another step in the offense. One thing, we talked with all these guys, doing a great job communicating with each other, quarterback to receiver, quarterback to O-line, and just making sure everyone’s on the same page with each other, not necessarily coach to player but player to player.
“I think that’s where you get the best teams is those player-led teams where guys are really on the same page out on the field, for sure.”