With Jordan Love not practicing, we’re getting a good look at Green Bay’s other options under center.
It’s Week 1 of training camp, and we’re all still twiddling our thumbs, waiting on the announcement of QB Jordan Love’s big payday. While Love remains on his current contract, his internal team, as well as the Green Bay Packers, have announced that the quarterback will not participate in physical practice. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported this week that while the Packers are working diligently on an extension for Love, it could still take a few weeks to be completed. What does this mean? It means you better get ready to learn Michael Pratt, buddy.
With Love not practicing, we’re seeing a lot from incumbent backup Sean Clifford, as well as Michael Pratt and Jacob Eason. How do they look a few days into camp? Not great. Wednesday’s practice saw the defense absolutely shred these quarterbacks, picking them off five times. The offense’s performance this week should definitely be motivation for the organization to get a deal done, but should the Packers actually be worried about what they’re seeing so far?
That does it for practice. Another dominant performance by the defense that included 5 interceptions (Stokes x2, Williams, AJJ, Sapp). Valentine & Jaire also had near picks. Offense does pushups after practice. A massive struggle for the QBs.
— Andy Herman (@AndyHermanNFL) July 24, 2024
After a few days of practice, I can confidently say: eh. If things continue to be genuinely awful from this group of quarterbacks, and the Packers remain unable to seal the deal on a Love extension, we can definitely start to get a little nervous. The fact of the matter is, though, most backup quarterbacks are not that good. That’s why they’re backups. Not to mention, we’re in week one of camp! And the Packers are still the youngest team in the NFL! With a new defense! We shouldn’t be too surprised to see some pretty awful stuff from both sides at one point or another.
If Dianna Russini is correct, and it does indeed take weeks for a deal to get done, we’re going to see a lot out of these backup quarterbacks. Will we like it? Probably not. The only solution at this point is for the Packers to get that extension hammered out. There’s not much more to it than that. Signing a veteran backup might make things a little more comfortable, but that seems like a move the team would only make if 1) things weren’t going well in contract discussions, or 2) Love was injured. In either of these two situations, the Packers are obviously planning for extended time without their top guy. A guy like Ryan Tannehill or Brian Hoyer is someone you bring in when you need to give yourself a fighting chance to win games now. Reminder: it’s July.
As evidenced by Love himself, good things take time. Sometimes the best way to learn is by doing, and as people love to point out: it took half a season (plus three on the bench!) for Love to show us what he’s truly capable of. The rest of the quarterback room is obviously not starting-caliber, but the team isn’t looking for a starting quarterback. Give these guys time before hitting the panic button. Until then, let’s enjoy some nasty training camp performances.