Paul Bretl | 8/13/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The circumstances in which Malik Willis will have to fill in for Packers’ starting quarterback Jordan Love are far different than the first time he was called upon about 11 months ago.
For one, that first time came during the regular season in a Week 2 matchup with Indianapolis. This time, the Packers are hopeful that Love can return to practice next week.
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In addition to that, when Willis started his first game in Green Bay, he had only been with the Packers for roughly three weeks. He now has almost a full year of being in Matt LaFleur’s offense under his belt.
“I would say a lot,” Willis said of his comfort level in the offense. “I mean, I’ve been here for a year, I got a lot of time in this offseason for the first time. Coming into an offense for a second season in a row, it’s been awesome.”
Love underwent a procedure on his left thumb on Tuesday, and while the injury shouldn’t sideline him long, Willis will be leading the Packers’ first team offense in Thursday’s joint practice with–ironically–the Colts.
As far as what next week holds, when the Packers have a joint practice with Seattle, Love’s status is still up in the air. However, Matt LaFleur did say it’s “highly unlikely” that Love plays in the preseason finale against the Seahawks, which would give Willis another opportunity to start a game.
“Just excited for the opportunity and excited to go out and have some fun, play this game,” Willis said. “I mean, we’re all looking for an opportunity and looked at to be ready for each opportunity that we get, especially when it comes to going out and just running the offense. I feel like that’s what’s most important.
“It’s not about going out and doing anything crazy, it’s about making sure we stay on schedule and we continue to do what we can to make plays.”
Along with not having Love, the Packers are also navigating a few other injuries on offense, mainly at the receiver position. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have been sidelined the last several practices, while Savion Williams and Romeo Doubs dropped out of Tuesday’s practice.
As LaFleur acknowledged, there is an added challenge that can come with preparing for the regular season without a number of integral players who make the offense go.
Willis is not only filling in for Love for the time being, but in working with the first-team offense in practices, joint practices, and potentially in preseason games, as the quarterback, he’s going to play a pivotal role in ensuring the offense as a whole is as best prepared as possible for Week 1.
Accomplishing that isn’t about doing anything “crazy,” as Willis put it, but it’s making sure that everyone is operating as efficiently as possible within their respective roles and responsibilities so that the overall offense can operate as one cohesive unit.
“If this team can’t handle one person being down for a couple days, then I think we’re in more trouble than worrying about what I should do,” Willis said. “I think we should be mentally strong enough to go out here and do what we can to execute each play that’s called, within the timing of the play, within the execution of the play and just play ball.
“It’s not a one-person game. It takes all 11 at all times. I know this position that we play gets a lot of added hype or added pressure, but it’s not really about that. It’s about going out and playing ball with all 11 working together.”
Willis has thrown his share of interceptions during training camp, but he’s also been able to move the ball down the field and deliver some impressive throws–two of which took place on Tuesday.
At the defense’s 30-yard line, Willis connected with Luke Musgrave down the left seam for a touchdown. During a third-down period, Willis fired a pass over the middle to Matthew Golden that was just out of the diving reach of linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper.
“We know what Malik is and what we have in Malik,” Josh Jacobs said at his locker. “Obviously for him, it’s just more so a year into this system, more comfortable in the system, you see him make throws, he made a few throws today that was kinda like, ‘Wow.’
“Just him being more comfortable and him being the leader, I think he’s naturally a guy that he puts in the work so I think he’s going to succeed. We have the ultimate confidence in him, so it’s going to be fun to see how he does in this joint practice.”