Packers aren't ruling out Jordan Love for Colts game even as Malik Willis prepares to start

Updated Sep. 11, 2024 6:12 p.m. ET

Associated Press

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur still isn't ruling out the possibility Jordan Love could play Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts as the quarterback recovers from a knee injury that has kept him from practicing.

Love injured his left medial collateral ligament Friday on the third-to-last play of the Packers’ season-opening 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. LaFleur said Love doesn’t necessarily have to practice this week to be ready to play in Sunday’s game.

“But at the same time, like I told you guys, he’s got to be cleared,” LaFleur said. “We’ve got to feel like he can protect himself, and he’s got to be confident enough to go out there and do that. Until that happens, we are not even going to think about that.”

While Love continues his recovery, Malik Willis is preparing for the likelihood he will start a game for Green Bay less than three weeks after the Packers acquired him from the Tennessee Titans.

Willis was asked Wednesday how much of the playbook he knows.

“I’m not sure I’d put a percentage on it,” Willis said. “Just trying to, whatever we have in each day, try to come in, diagnose it, study it the night before and be able to go out there and execute.”

LaFleur compared the situation to his 2018 stint as Tennessee's offensive coordinator, when the Titans turned to Blaine Gabbert after starting quarterback Marcus Mariota got injured in the season opener.

At least in that instance, Gabbert had been with the Titans throughout training camp. The Packers just added Willis in a trade that was finalized Aug. 27.

Willis’ only three previous career starts came as a rookie with Tennessee in 2022. The Titans went 1-2 in those games, and Willis didn’t top 100 yards passing in any of them.

He went 6 of 10 for 55 yards with an interception in a 17-10 victory at Houston, a game in which Tennessee attempted only one pass after halftime. He was 5 of 16 for 80 yards with no touchdown passes or interceptions in a 20-17 overtime loss at Kansas City. And he was 14 of 23 for 99 yards with two interceptions and no touchdown passes in a 19-14 home loss to the Texans.

“I wasn’t ready yet, but I had to go in,” Willis said Wednesday of that rookie experience. “I’m a different player than then.”

Willis said he has learned plenty since and is more prepared for this second chance to start. Willis credits the way he worked last year while appearing in only three games as a reserve.

“You just prepare until you get an opportunity,” said Willis, a 2022 third-round pick from Liberty. “That’s the way this league works. You’ve got guys like Taylor Heinicke, you’ve got guys all over the league that have been in positions where they weren’t starting or they weren’t playing, and they just continued to work and work and work. And when they get the opportunity, they can put something good on tape. That’s all you want to do, is put something good on tape for yourself and the opportunity to go out and perform the best that you can.”

The Titans deemed Willis expendable after Mason Rudolph beat him out for the right to back up Will Levis. The Packers then acquired Willis for a 2025 seventh-round pick.

Little did they know at the time how soon they’d need him.

Green Bay’s receivers say they have faith in Willis. Dontayvion Wicks says he already was familiar with him because they attended nearby colleges, with Wicks at Virginia and Willis at Liberty. Jayden Reed said he was impressed once he saw Willis’ passes

“That he could spin it, that was just my first thought when I first saw him throw the ball,” Reed said.

The real chance to make an impression should come Sunday. Willis is working overtime trying to establish a rhythm with these teammates he’s just getting to know.

“At the end of the day, the reality is I just got here, so it’s going to be a little bit in overdrive, not (like) a normal week as if I’ve been here the whole time,” Willis said. “But we’re definitely going to be taking it day by day and just doing what we can each day to prepare ourselves for Sunday.”

NOTES: Love was the only Packer who didn't practice at all Wednesday. CB Corey Ballentine (oblique), DL Kenny Clark (toe), RB Josh Jacobs (back) and RB MarShawn Lloyd (hamstring) were limited. Lloyd didn't play against the Eagles.

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