One of the few educated opinions on the matter of the Green Bay Packers changing quarterbacks belongs to head coach Matt LaFleur.
LaFleur was supportive of Aaron Rodgers during off-field drama involving the front office over the past several years, but the end of the road came for the two sides in April. Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets, ushering in the Jordan Love era.
“There’s a lot of things I’d like to see out of (Love),” LaFleur said on Tuesday. “It’s more or less just the process of becoming better each and every day and the command that he has. Certainly, you want to give him every opportunity. You can’t give him enough reps. Just making those incremental improvements and becoming more consistent on a daily basis.
“I’m really excited. He definitely has complete command of our offense. There’s no doubt about it. He’s put the work in, he knows the ins and outs. Now it’s going to apply that in a real situation.”
LaFleur said he’s excited to get Love as many snaps and experiences as he can before the regular season begins at Chicago in September. That means “potentially” playing a lot in the preseason.
General manager Brian Gutekunst cautioned there is a measure of risk with playing Love “too much” in preseason games and plans to work with LaFleur to weigh the downside as camp progresses.
Team president Mark Murphy said the franchise likely will need up to half the season to determine if Love can be the long-term answer replacing Rodgers, a four-time MVP.
LaFleur said there will be a cautious approach in terms of asking too much of the 24-year-old. One such example is punting the coach-QB meetings to discuss the game plan that were built in for Rodgers, largely based on his experience and proven performance.
“The last thing I want to do for him is have him paralyzed thinking of too many things at the line of scrimmage. I think that takes time,” LaFleur said. “It takes experience and once he shows that, it kind of happens organically throughout the process.”
–Field Level Media