The Green Bay Packers squandered a golden opportunity to start the season with a win with Jordan Love leading the offense.
Now they’re trying to bounce back without their franchise quarterback, at least for a while.
Love was helped off the field in the final minutes of the Packers’ 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil on Friday. A person familiar with the matter said Love had injured his medial collateral ligament but not his anterior cruciate ligament and is expected to return this season.
The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the extent of Love’s injury has not been released by the team. There was no timetable for Love’s return. The update on Love was first reported by ESPN and NFL Network, with ESPN saying Love could miss three to four weeks and NFL Network estimating three to six weeks.
“Obviously you don’t want to see your team leader get hurt.” “We’re just trying to get the ball rolling,” running back Josh Jacobs said after the game.
Love, 25, played his first regular-season game since signing a four-year, $220 million contract extension this summer. The Packers entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations largely due to Love’s emergence, after he led the NFL’s youngest team to a surprising playoff run last season as a first-year starter.
So the Packers can rest easy knowing Love will return this year, but for now they have serious quarterback issues.
Malik Willis, a 2022 third-round draft pick out of Liberty University, is the Packers’ only other quarterback on the 53-man roster.
He is generally considered a more polished runner than a passer. Willis has started three times, all in his rookie year, and has never thrown for 100 yards in any of them.
Willis also just joined the Packers less than two weeks ago from the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 2025 seventh-round pick, so he may not be in much rhythm with this offense.
Another possibility is 2023 fifth-round draft pick Sean Clifford. The Packers waived Clifford and rookie seventh-round draft pick Michael Pratt after acquiring Willis, but later reinstated Clifford to the practice squad. The Packers would have been favored to get an early win on Friday with Love starting, but they couldn’t capitalize on a night when they amassed 414 yards of total offense. Penalties, red-zone fumbles and an inability to slow Saquon Barkley were too big a problem to overcome.
“There’s a lot to sort out.” “It’s a big deal,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think it was definitely a sloppy game for us. Frankly, we just had some actions that were just not our style as a staff and that rubbed off on the players. So, at the end of the day, we’ve all got to take a hard look at ourselves and find ways to get better, because we obviously weren’t good enough tonight.”
What’s working?
The Packers intercepted two Jalen Hart passes, a positive sign for a defense that had just seven interceptions last season, last in the league behind Tennessee. The Packers didn’t gain many yards up the middle early on, but still finished with 163 yards on 21 attempts.
Areas that need improvement
Green Bay committed 10 fouls. … The Packers advanced to the red zone four times but scored only one touchdown, settling for a field goal on three of those attempts. … The Green Bay defense forced three turnovers but otherwise struggled to stop Philadelphia. After forcing turnovers on Philadelphia’s first two attempts, the Packers allowed three touchdowns and one field goal on the Eagles’ next four attempts.
Stock up
WR Jayden Reed proved his impressive rookie season was no fluke.
The 2023 second-round draft pick out of Michigan State scored on a 33-yard jet sweep and a 70-yard reception. He also had a 38-yard touchdown catch negated by a penalty. Reed ultimately had four receptions for 138 yards. … Tight end Tucker Kraft played 64 of the Packers’ 67 offensive snaps, showing he had a depth advantage over fellow second-year pro Luke Musgrave. Kraft caught two passes for 37 yards. Musgrave played 17 offensive snaps and had no catches.
Stock prices fall
LT Rasheed Walker was penalized twice for holding and once for a false start. … WR Dontayvion Wicks did not catch a pass in any of the three times he was targeted.
Injury
On the same play that Love was injured, C Josh Myers also slowly climbed to his feet. After the game, Myers said it was just leg cramps. “I had some bad cramps the whole second half of the game.” Myers said.
Key figures
30/70 — Reed is one of five players with a touchdown run of 30 or more yards and a touchdown catch of 70 or more yards in the same game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The others are Delvin Williams of the San Francisco 49ers against Washington in 1976, Curtis Dickey of the Baltimore Colts against Buffalo in 1983, Herschel Walker of the Dallas Cowboys against Philadelphia in 1986 and Ezekiel Elliott of Dallas against Pittsburgh in 2016.
Next steps
The Packers will open their season at home against the Indianapolis Colts on September 15th.
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