Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love used the bye week to put knee and groin injuries in the rear-view mirror, and coach Matt LaFleur is hopeful that a full week of practice leading into games will be “beneficial” for the second-year starter down the stretch in 2024.
Love injured the MCL in his left knee in Week 1 and missed two games, and then he suffered a groin injury in Week 8 and missed practices before the Packers’ loss to the Detroit Lions before the bye. The first half of the Packers’ season was marred by inconsistency on offense, which can be at least partly blamed on the lingering injury issues faced by the quarterback.
LaFleur thinks Love — who was a full participant at Wednesday’s practice — will have better mobility and accuracy with two healthy legs moving forward.
“When you’re limited in your lower half as a quarterback, that can have a big effect on your ability to move around in the pocket or throw accurately. So it’ll be good to get him some practice under his belt where he’s fully healthy,” LaFleur said Wednesday. “That’s the other thing, going back to last game, he didn’t practice the full week. Confident that a full week’s worth of practice and just stacking those days will definitely be beneficial for him.”
Love has missed at least a month’s worth of practice due to injuries this season. LaFleur hopes full and consistent availability at practice can turn his quarterback from good to great to end 2024.
Love has completed 61.3 percent of his passes, thrown 10 interceptions and scrambled only five times in seven starts this season. The Packers passing game has left a lot of production out of the field via either inaccurate throws or dropped passes, and Love being slightly more accurate could help unlock consistency over the final eight games.
Also, moving around in the pocket and extending plays were big parts of Love’s second-half surge last season. With the knee and groin injuries healed or healing, Love could be more mobile down the stretch.
Can Love and the Packers start catching fire coming out of the bye? The first test arrives Sunday in Chicago.
LIVE: Head Coach Matt LaFleur meets with the media
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— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 13, 2024