Packers believe we've yet to see best version of Jordan Love: ‘He can be one of the elites'

New York Times

2 days ago

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love is closing the gap. At least, that's what the Green Bay Packers believe about their star quarterback.
Love progressed significantly enough during each of his two seasons as the full-time starter to the point where a career-type of 2025 campaign could vault him into conversations about the league's best QBs. Love, 26, is already paid like an elite quarterback, and he seems poised to perform like one, too.
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'I'd hate to put a ceiling on him,' Packers coach Matt LaFleur told The Athletic recently, 'because I think he can be one of the elites in this league.'
For that to happen, Love needs a couple of things to go his way. First, and most importantly, he needs to shake the injury bug that seems to be following him around. The Packers QB recently underwent surgery to repair a ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb and will be out for at least a week. Last season, he sprained his MCL in the regular-season opener before straining his groin in Week 8.
However, if Love can stay healthy, then he can get to work addressing the holes on his résumé that, right now, keep him from being included in any conversations about the NFL's elite QBs. Love, who recently landed at No. 13 on Mike Sando's QB Tiers, only has one playoff victory in three starts, so he's well behind Super Bowl champions Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. Love doesn't even have a Pro Bowl nod yet, so his trophy case is barren compared to MVPs like Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.
Jordan Love
Packers
Of course, franchise quarterbacks aren't born immortal. They've got to work for such recognition, and Love's canvas is loaded with promise. Remember, after the 2020 first-round pick spent the first three years of his career in Green Bay on the bench behind Aaron Rodgers, Love has only started 32 regular-season games since taking over, so his tangible game experience and production should follow comparable arcs as he draws closer to the prime of his career.
'What those guys do at such a high level is just consistency with everything,' Love said. 'I know I'm just as good as those guys and can be even better, so I think it comes down to going out there and making those plays on Sunday.'
Love's relatively smooth offseason should help the cause. While he admitted to benefiting from his stint behind Rodgers, that time was also shared with the built-in distraction that Love would eventually replace one of the most celebrated players in franchise history, and the timing of that promotion felt perpetually fluid.
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Then last season, Love missed the start of training camp while finalizing his four-year, $220 million extension, which is still tied for the second biggest deal in league history in terms of average annual value. Love ended 2023 on a torrid stretch to set up the groundbreaking pact, but the deal was attached to the projection of where Love was heading more than what he'd already proven. That type of deal comes with pressure.
Then came the injuries in Week 1 and Week 8, both of which severely limited his mobility throughout the season, so he had to be judicious while trying to extend plays.
For instance, if a defense showed a two-high safety look that would be conducive to a QB keeper to move the chains, Love ignored the variable more often than not because his legs didn't have the juice to reach the marker. LaFleur said Love has already run more in this training camp than all of last season, so he should be more dynamic soon.
Love had to manage his practice workload to rehab the knee and groin injuries. As LaFleur noted, young players short on game experience need those practice reps, not just to refine their fundamentals but to get comfortable with that week's game plan. It's near impossible for a young player to perform at his highest level when injuries cast a seven-day cloud over the workweek.
'It's never going to be as nice as it would be to be 100 percent healthy, but that's the price of doing business in the NFL,' Love said. 'It was tough battling through that, then obviously the groin injury didn't make things any better. It was tough. It was frustrating.
'It limited some aspects of my game, but I feel for the most part I was still able to go out there and be a pocket passer and perform as best as I could. It affected some of the off-schedule plays and me running the ball a little bit.'
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For his part, Love spent the offseason working with his longtime quarterback coach Steve Calhoun; they focused heavily on his footwork and balance in the pocket. Love has aimed to maintain his base during a variety of throws, and the goal is to keep his movement as consistent as possible amid the chaos around him, whether he's dancing around the pocket or darting away to extend a play.
LaFleur already thought Love had high-end traits when it comes to manipulating protections and avoiding sacks, so the combination of added work and healthier legs should yield a boost.
The hope is that improved footwork also will lead to a bump in his accuracy. He completed 63.1 percent of his passes last season, which dropped a point from 2023 and ranked 20th among 28 QBs who attempted at least 200 passes. Though the Packers were among the worst in the league in drops, Love suggested better throws would be easier for his receivers to catch.
The interceptions are tangentially related to that, as well. He's thrown 11 during each of his two seasons as the starter — not an egregious amount in totality, but there's been some streakiness. Love threw 10 interceptions in 2023 over a seven-game stretch, and he threw all 11 during his first eight starts of 2024. He's been picked off five times in his two playoff defeats.
'At the end of the day, the No. 1 job of the quarterback is to protect the ball,' Love said. 'But at the same time, you've got to find that balance of taking those risks and maybe fitting them in tight windows, because that's the league. Not everybody is going to be wide open.
'The big thing is trying to protect the ball as much as possible, not putting the ball in harm's way but still having the confidence to make the risky throws.'
In each of his two seasons as a starter, Love rebounded from so-so starts to play at an MVP-level down the stretch, with a particularly scorching span in 2023 (18-1 TD-INT ratio from Weeks 11-18) that surely motivated the Packers to lock in his new contract. LaFleur and the Packers have always been encouraged by Love's ability to get over a bad play or stretch.
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'He obviously has a lot of talent and a lot of the characteristics in terms of the mental makeup of what I think is so critical to guys being successful in this league,' LaFleur said. 'He never allows one moment to affect the next. He has an uncanny ability to stay so even-keeled.'
Those are the traits of a franchise leader who is driven to take his game to a higher level. He ranked in the top seven of The Athletic's QB Stock Report in 2024 from Week 7 through the end of the season, holding steady at No. 6 from Week 13. So he's been knocking on the door of a top tier that's featured Mahomes, Allen, Jackson and Joe Burrow.
Now, Love needs to find a way to break through. A healthy season will go a long way in helping him reach that goal, as will a strong supporting cast. If history has proven anything, it's that young quarterbacks need help from every corner of the organization to thrive with any level of consistency.
These Packers, as currently constructed, are still relatively unproven on the playoff stage. However, their makeup is intriguing, and it has to start with Love, who has commanded more ownership of LaFleur's offense with each season.
'His ceiling, it's all dependent on team success,' LaFleur said. 'That's how all quarterbacks are judged. They're judged on Super Bowls and winning, and they're going to get too much credit when you do well and too much blame when you don't.'
Love is comfortable with those expectations. At any turn around Lambeau Field, Love could find himself on Bart Starr Drive or Brett Favre Pass. If he plays long enough, he'll probably also stroll through some variation of a Rodgers Way.
'There are always expectations for the team, for the quarterback, just where we're at being a Packer,' Love said. 'There are expectations to go out there and win the NFC North, win a Super Bowl. Those are all things we're trying to do.'
Beyond that? That all depends on what he does with his opportunity.
Love has a chance to prove he belongs among the league's best.
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