Getty Jordan Love #10 of the Green Bay Packers throws a first quarter pass with pressure from George Karlaftis #56 of the Kansas City Chiefs during a preseason game at Arrowhead Stadium on August 25, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Green Bay Packers have championship aspirations for the 2022 season with four-time NFL MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers leading their offense, but they also feel that Jordan Love could step in — if necessary — and win for them.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur reviewed the team’s preseason with members of the media on August 27 and was asked specifically about the progress he saw from Love, telling them he sees a “much more decisive player out there that is letting the ball rip.” He also offered up his strongest vote of confidence yet for the 2020 first-round pick.
“I think we have a lot of confidence, if need be, if he had to go in there, he absolutely could win a game,” LaFleur said during his press conference on August 27.
The Packers obviously would prefer not to be in a spot in 2022 where Love needs to win a game for them, but they did find themselves in that exact same situation last season when Rodgers was forced to spend Week 9’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the reserve/COVID-19 list. After that performance, the best thing LaFleur had to say about Love was that he showed “resilience,” so it reflects well on Love that his head coach is speaking much more highly of him heading into his third season.
Was Love’s preseason enough to solidify his place in the Packers’ future plans, though?
“It’s hard to predict the future, right?” LaFleur said. “But I think he just had a lot of productive moments. I think he’s shown a lot of growth and just the consistency with what you see in his fundamentals, his footwork, he looks much more fluid. I would think we can all agree with that. I think he looks much more decisive, the ball is coming out of his hands. I don’t see a whole lot of hesitation in his play. I think he’s done a much better job and has a much better grasp of protections and how to adjust those and when he needs to get the ball out.”
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Numbers Don’t Give ‘Great Sense’ on Love
Love started all three preseason games for the Packers and finished 41-of-74 passing for 437 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions, but LaFleur doesn’t feel like the stats behind his second preseason offer an accurate view of how he actually performed.
“I think a lot of time we get enamored by numbers, [but] I don’t think the numbers in this instance really give it a great sense of how he did,” LaFleur said. “I think he graded out pretty well. Certainly, it’s not perfect, it’s never going to be perfect. There’s a couple throws that I’m sure he would like to have back, but I thought, all-in-all, it was definitely a step in the right direction for him.”
Some of the “mistakes” on Love’s statistical record for the 2022 preseason weren’t his responsibility, either. He threw three interceptions in the preseason opener, but two of them were drops by his receivers and the third was the result of two busted routes and him having nowhere to go with the football. Even if there were better decisions he could have made at times, he wasn’t out there heaving bad passes into coverage.
Love Played Primarily Without Packers Starters
LaFleur also pointed out that Love wasn’t always working with their best playmakers throughout the preseason. The Packers rested all three of their starting receivers — Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins — along with running backs Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes. Second-round rookie wide receiver Christian Watson was also held out with his knee still recovering, leaving Love to make do with Romeo Doubs, Juwann Winfree, Amari Rodgers, Danny Davis, Samori Toure, Josiah Deguara and Tyler Davis as his main receiving targets.
The offensive line was the only area where Love got the support of starters, and even that unit was lacking All-Pro David Bakhtiari and Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins — both of whom could be back in time for Week 1’s opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
“I thought it was a really productive training camp for him,” LaFleur said. “And you’ve also got to look at [the fact that] he wasn’t necessarily playing with all the starters, missing a couple of those wide receivers, obviously the two running back, the two tight ends. So, it’s not like he was going with all the weapons we have on the roster.”