By all appearances, the Green Bay Packers will be ripping the band-aid off Jordan Love in 2023, moving on from Aaron Rodgers after 18 seasons, four NFL MVPs, and a Super Bowl win. Eventually.
While the Packers have yet to reach a trade agreement with the New York Jets, sending their 39-year-old quarterback to the Big Apple, a deal is expected to come to fruition. Eventually.
In the meantime, we’re seeing the Packers be a bit more candid about the 26th overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, with Love expected to take over as the team’s full-time starter in 2023. While he’s spent the past three years learning behind an all-time franchise icon, it’s a big leap for the 24-year-old who has made just one career NFL start.
For fans hoping or expecting Love to immediately get better results than Rodgers did in recent time, well, coach Matt LaFleur has a message he wants to get off his chest.
“It’s going to be a different role for him certainly, and I think we all kind of have to temper our expectations for him. It’s just different when you’re going into a game versus when you’re starting a game. It’s going to be a process, but it’s going to be exciting for him, for us. I don’t think any quarterback can truly do it on their own in this league. It’s going to be everybody rallying around him and trying to play to the best of their ability, so he can go out there and perform as good as he possibly can.”
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur on what to expect from Jordan Love (H/T Pro Football Talk)
Yeah, it’s absurd to think Love can come in and perform better than Rodgers, especially considering he’ll be working with largely the same cast of receivers, minus Allen Lazard.
While Love was a first-round pick for a reason, and there are plenty of traits to be excited about, from his ability to make off-schedule throws using his athleticism to his advantage, he’s still extremely unproven. Coach LaFleur just wanted to provide a reminder of how much experience factors into a player’s comfort level and his ability to thrive.
Related: Aaron Rodgers’ return to Green Bay Packers still an option according to team’s GM
Despite uncertainty, Green Bay Packers remain confident in Jordan Love
Even though the Packers coach wants to enter the season with caution regarding their QB change, it doesn’t mean he isn’t eager to see how much his young signal-caller has developed in practice.
“He’s come a long way, quite frankly. I know there were some times where early on, it’s just you’re like . . . you don’t know. I still think you have to go out there, and you’ve got to do it consistently. It’s one thing to do it in practice. It’s another thing to take it to the game field and do it. But certainly seeing just his performance in practice, his mechanics, his decision-making, his timing in the pass game, I think just his accuracy, which is always what we’re grading the quarterback on, I think he’s come a long way.”
He’s come a long way, but from where? Is this an indication that early returns were looking rough for the former Utah State star? Who knows, but based on the coach’s comments, Love will be fully prepared to go when he gets bumped to QB1 on the depth chart later this offseason. We’ll find out if he’s right in the fall.
Related: Aaron Rodgers’ return to Green Bay Packers still an option according to team’s GM