GREEN BAY, Wis. — It sounds so mundane, but after the bye week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is focused on simply finding completions.
Love ranks 33rd — last — among qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage (55.6). According to Next Gen Stats, he leads the NFL in average intended air yards per pass (9.9). That means, on average, he is pushing the ball downfield farther than any quarterback in the league. However, Love’s average air yards per completion number of 6.5 makes for a differential between the two numbers of negative-3.4. That discrepancy is tied for second worst in the NFL, meaning for as far as Love is throwing the ball, he and the Packers aren’t getting nearly enough yardage from those attempts.
That’s why something as simple as finding completions, specifically shorter ones that help move the chains, is an appropriate priority for Green Bay’s offense as the Packers (2-3) look to get back to .500 when they face the Denver Broncos (1-5) on the road Sunday afternoon.
Asked whether there’s anyone he feels he needs to feed more in the passing game, Love instead answered with this:
“Obviously, you want to get everybody the ball,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons. You want to always spread the ball out, but I think more of it is just consistency and finding those completions and getting the playmakers the ball in space so they can operate and make guys miss. And not always trying to find that big play and force the ball downfield but just getting the ball in guys’ hands quickly. I think that’s been the biggest thing.”
Jordan Love focused after the bye on finding completions instead of forcing the ball downfield for big plays pic.twitter.com/NsdsRdUALu
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 18, 2023
It’s interesting that Love mentioned getting the ball to playmakers in space and letting them earn yards after the catch instead of connecting with them on bombs. On two instances against the Las Vegas Raiders last Monday night, Love and wide receiver Christian Watson failed to connect on heaves down the middle of the field. Watson had one go through his hands in tight coverage. On the other, Love’s throw was too far toward the middle of the field, but Watson said he needed to track the ball better.
Remember against the Philadelphia Eagles last season when Love filled in for an injured Aaron Rodgers and hit Watson on a short pass over the middle before Watson turned on the jets around the edge for an eventual 63-yard touchdown? It sounds like Love would rather take his chances with plays like that than pray for deep connections that haven’t consistently been there dating back to training camp.
If the Packers can string together enough completions to reach the red zone, they should find success after that in finding the end zone, if the first five games are any indication. Green Bay ranks sixth in the league in red zone touchdown percentage, with 62.5 percent of its red zone drives ending in touchdowns (10 of 16). However, the Packers rank 17th in the league in percentage of offensive drives that have reached the red zone, with only 16 of 56 getting to the opposing 20-yard line.
“I think once we get the ball moving, once we get that rhythm going, I think we’ve been pretty good,” Love said. “Obviously, I think our red zone offense has been really good early on. We just need to get more opportunities down there, get the ball down there in the red zone, because once we get down there, we’re executing pretty well right now. And then, like I said before, it’s just that consistency of finding those completions and getting the chains moving.”
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The Packers have found themselves in too many get-back-on-track scenarios, as they call them: second- and third-and-longs because of penalties or unproductive plays on first and second downs. That’s made it harder to sustain drives, reach the red zone and, in turn, give the defense a rest.
“It’s just been very choppy,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “We haven’t been able to get into a consistent rhythm. … It’s hard to have success in this league if you’re living in third-and-10-plus.”
If there’s one player who is the most important to sustaining drives, it’s running back Aaron Jones. He ranks tied for fifth in NFL history among running backs in yards per carry (5.1) and poses a threat in the passing game, too. Jones suffered a hamstring injury on his 35-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter of a Week 1 thumping of the Chicago Bears before missing the next two games. He returned in a limited capacity against the Detroit Lions in Week 4 to play 20 offensive snaps, then suffered a setback to his hamstring recovery the day before flying to Las Vegas to face the Raiders in Week 5.
Jones said Wednesday that he felt good all week preceding the Raiders game before tweaking his hamstring when going for a ball in the back of the end zone during the final practice of the week. He was hopeful he could still play in Las Vegas, but LaFleur, general manager Brian Gutekunst and the training staff decided to play it safe with how much football the team had left to play. Jones, however, said he and LaFleur were contemplating playing him against the Raiders “for a long time.”
Four days before facing the Broncos, Jones said this is the best his hamstring has felt since the initial injury more than a month ago.
“It definitely helped a lot,” he said of the bye week. “Anytime you get those extra added days with rest, it’s huge. I was able to stay here with our training staff to get right. It gave me some confidence going into this week. I was able to get out there today and run around and do some drills, have a little bit of practice. It did a lot for my confidence.”
Pardon the locker room ruckus in the background, but here’s Aaron Jones saying this is the best he’s felt since suffering his hamstring injury in Week 1: pic.twitter.com/9kfe3YbJTr
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) October 18, 2023
Though Jones somewhat downplayed that his return (if he plays Sunday) could revive the offense by resorting to the company line of “it takes all 11,” right guard Jon Runyan Jr. gave perhaps a more objective viewpoint on how No. 33 can spark a unit that has largely been stagnant for the past three games.
“Having Aaron Jones back is gonna be a big help,” Runyan said. “Just speed. He’s gonna press that aiming point. He’s gonna get outside. Aaron Jones is probably the best player on our team. Anytime you’re missing the best player on your team, it’s gonna be tough to play without him. Having him back there, he’s just really good. He’s gonna get through the smallest holes and explode out there for 12, 15 yards. You never know — he might take it to the house. Having him out there is key.”
Jones practiced in a limited capacity Wednesday, along with safeties Darnell Savage Jr. and Zayne Anderson, inside linebacker Quay Walker, defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt, cornerback Eric Stokes and left guard Elgton Jenkins. The only nonparticipant was inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who LaFleur called doubtful to play against the Broncos with an ankle injury that’s likely to sideline him for a third consecutive game.
(Photo: Cooper Neill / Getty Images)
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