Just exactly what the Green Bay Packers have in Jordan Love is still to be determined. By now, they probably would’ve hoped for more of a return out of the quarterback they made an aggressive pursuit of in the opening round of last year’s draft.
The reality is that just isn’t the case. Love’s rookie year was essentially shortened, expedited and stricken with every bit of adversity possible; he even ended up on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list by mid-season after being deemed a close contact to linebacker Krys Barnes, who received a positive test.
But after the first couple days of Phase 3 -- the commencement of in-person, voluntary OTAs -- and being able to work with Love hands-on, head coach Matt LaFleur may have more of a bearing on just what the Packers have in the former Utah State signal-caller.
“A guy that’s eager to continue to grow and learn,” LaFleur said on Tuesday. “And I love his attitude and how he attacks it on a daily basis. He’s definitely improved over the course of the year. You can tell that he’s put in the time this offseason and not only just lifting and running and coming in good football shape, but you can tell he’s put in the time in his craft and continued to work at his mechanics, his fundamentals that are so critical to playing the position at the highest level possible.”
A healthy scratch for all 16 regular-season contests and two more in the playoffs, Love is essentially a work-in-progress for the Packers. But this week marked an opportunity for him to commandeer the first-team offense in a practice setting with the absence of Aaron Rodgers, whose well-documented dispute with the team is ongoing.
“He still has a lot to learn, I think he’d tell you that,” LaFleur admitted. “But he’s going to take it one day at a time. He goes out there with purpose; I just like his mindset right now.”
While the Packers were indeed hoping to get a glimpse of Love at the helm of the entirety of their first-team offense, there were some notable absences on Tuesday -- more specifically, the first five wide receivers on the depth chart.
In addition to Rodgers, Davante Adams, Allen Lazard, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Equanimeous St. Brown and Devin Funchess were all marked as no-shows. Though, LaFleur didn’t believe it was a coordinated effort to show support of the league’s reigning MVP and confirmed he had individual conversations with each player.
At the very least, Love didn’t have the luxury of the team’s routine arsenal of pass-catchers. However, that didn’t seem to bother LaFleur much -- at least not at this point in May. Right now, he’s far more fixated on how Love is developing from a foundational standpoint.
“I think it’s just more about the process of playing the position,” LaFleur said. “Whether it’s a run play or a pass play, building a routine and having consistency with that. Right now, I think even as we’re scripting, we’re less concerned about putting the perfect person in position to -- like we would in a gameplan situation, it’s more about just making sure that we’re putting Jordan in situations so he can continue to progress.
“Like I said, we evaluate it every day. Just certain areas we think he may need a little work at, but those guys have done a great job and the assistant coaches have done a heck of a job … I’ve been pretty pleased with the first two days.”
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Packers witnessing gradual ascension from Jordan Love - 247Sports
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