Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has spent his entire career riding in the backseat behind a Hall-of-Fame player, but that’s over now.
After three years of listening and learning from Aaron Rodgers, of waiting and wondering when it would be his turn, Green Bay is finally prepared to show a little Love to Packer Nation. Part of the new starting QB’s ascendence entails finding his public voice, which Love did while speaking to media members on Wednesday, May 10.
Reporters asked Love what it was like to loiter in Rodgers’ shadow as his mentor/competition won MVPs and signed the richest annual extension in NFL history — all after the Packers had drafted Love to replace him.
“I’ll admit, I think the hardest time was when he re-signed the contract last year,” Love explained.
“It was kinda like, ‘Okay well, where do we go from here? What do I do?'” Love continued. “And I think I sat back, thought to myself and just came back with the approach like, ‘Let’s just go ball out any opportunity I get. I’m gonna get preseason and who knows what happens after that, so just grow and try and become the best version of myself, and I can’t really control what happens after that, so let it play out.'”
Jordan Love ‘Grateful’ For Time With Aaron Rodgers
GettyQuarterbacks Aaron Rodgers (left) and Jordan Love (right) of the Green Bay Packers take the field before a game against the Tennessee Titans in November 2022.
Despite his difficulties navigating the uncertainties and frustration that came with waiting his turn for three long seasons, Love spoke about the appreciation he has for Rodgers and the time he spent learning the game as a legend’s understudy.
“We talked after the trade. Kind of just, ‘Wish you the best going forward.’ He wished me the best and [said he is] always there for me if I need anything, if I have any questions or anything,” Love said. “I’m always just grateful to be around him and for the time I had with him, to be able to learn and be behind him. It’s very grateful for me.”
While the sample size is small, Love’s work with Rodgers appears to have paid off. Love struggled in the sole start of his career against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, but played brilliantly in the second half of a game against the Philadelphia Eagles this year after Rodgers left that contest with a rib injury.
Jordan Love Has Made Believers Inside Packers Locker Room
GettyQuarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers walks off the field after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in November 2022.
Mistakes are inevitable as Love assumes the starting role for the first time in his fourth NFL season, but the leap he appears to have made is reason for optimism.
That’s the feeling inside the Packers locker room as well, which running back Aaron Jones articulated during his own media session on Wednesday.
“He believes in himself, first off. That’s No. 1. You’ve got to believe in yourself, or nobody else is going to believe in you,” Jones told reporters. “So he believes in himself, he cares about everybody around him, and we’ve seen him just come in consistently and just work, work, work.”
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Packers’ Love Breaks Silence on Frustration Over Rodgers Saga