It has been three decades—31 years, actually—and two quarterbacks since the Packers had a player at the helm who was not only one of the best in the NFL at running 2-minute drills, but was one of the top 20 in the history of the sport.
Maybe lightning will strike a third time and new quarterback Jordan Love will join the list of all-time greats. But judging by the early going in training camp, that’s going to take some work. The Packers defense stifled the offense in its first five end-of-practice 2-minute drills before the offense—the second-string offense led by rookie Sean Clifford, it should be pointed out—got on the board on Thursday.
The flops have bothered Love.
“It’s frustrating,” Love said. “Obviously, 2-minute drill, we’re practicing those situations to go win a game, whether it is end of game or end of half. We’re practicing that situation for a reason, that’s when we need to drive down and win that game. So it’s frustrating that we have not even been able to get a drive started let alone move down the field and score. It’s something, we are going to go back to the film, figure it out, watch it, see what areas we need to improve on and come back to it next week.”
The 2-minute struggles have been part of a whole for Love to this point, who has had ups and downs—mostly downs—in his first training camp as the Packers starter. The ups and downs have been literal for Love and the first-team offense, because they’ve been punished with pushups or up-and-down drills each time they fail to score in the 2-minute setting.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on what he’s taken from Jordan Love’s first week or so of camp: “Not much,” he said with a chuckle. “He’s done a really nice job. Just like last year, the defense kinda had the offense early.” Said joint practices, preseason games will tell much more.
Beat reporters on the scene have noted that Love has frequently missed open targets, a problem that goes back to the team’s OTAs in late May and early June. Much of the Packers offense has been out of sync during camp, as GM Brian Gutenkunst admitted on Friday.
“Just like last year, the defense kinda had the offense early,” Gutenkunst said.
It’s far too early, but it is significant to note that the team is showing no sign of adding a veteran to back up Love. Instead, they’re letting the trio of Clifford, Danny Etling and Alex McGough battle for the backup role.
Etling, who had a strong training camp for Green Bay last year, could be the favorite to start the season behind Love, though McGough is the reigning USFL MVP and the Pack did use a fifth-round pick to choose Clifford out of Penn State.
It’s possible the team will reverse course and add a veteran as the season approaches, but the clear focus now is to not put added pressure on Love.
Packers Have Had 2-Minute Legends
And there will be big 2-minute shoes to fill for Love, assuming he is the starter this season.
It was back in 1992 that the Packers brought in a second-year guy from the Falcons, Brett Favre, whose penchant for exhilarating endings became one of the defining factors in his Hall of Fame career. By the time he retired, Favre had logged 43 game-winning drives, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. That’s the seventh-most in league history.
Aaron Rodgers took over for Favre in 2008, and in 15 seasons with the Packers, recorded 31 game-winning drives, which ranks 19th in NFL history.
Would that it were so easy for Love. He’s got a long way to go to reach anything like Rodgers’ or Favre’s level, naturally, and at this point, he would be happy to simply avoid doing end-of-practice pushups a few times.
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Packers QB Jordan Love Admits to ‘Frustrating’ Failure