Packers must figure out how to win without Jordan Love for now while they await his return

Updated Sep. 7, 2024 5:29 p.m. ET

Associated Press

The Green Bay Packers wasted a golden opportunity to start their season on a winning note with Jordan Love running their offense.

Now they're going to try to bounce back without their franchise quarterback, at least for a little while.

Love was helped off the field in the closing seconds of the Packers’ 34-29 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday in Brazil. A person familiar with the situation said Love had injured his medial collateral ligament — but not his ACL — and should return this season.

The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t announced the severity of Love’s injury. A timetable for Love’s return wasn’t specified. ESPN and NFL Network first reported the update on Love, with ESPN saying Love could miss three to four weeks and NFL Network estimating it at three to six weeks.

“Obviously you don’t want to see the leader of your team get hurt,” running back Josh Jacobs said after the game.

Love, 25, was playing 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 because of the emergence of Love, who led the NFL’s youngest team to a surprising playoff berth last season as a first-year starter.

So, the Packers can breathe a sign of relief that Love will be back this year. But for now, they're facing a serious issue at quarterback.

Malik Willis, a 2022 third-round draft pick out of Liberty, is the only other quarterback on the Packers’ 53-man roster. He generally has been considered a much more polished runner than passer. Willis has made three career starts – all in his rookie year – and didn’t throw for 100 yards in any of them.

Also, Willis just joined the Packers less than two weeks ago when they acquired him from the Tennessee Titans for a 2025 seventh-round pick. So he might not have developed much of a rhythm with this offense.

Another possibility is 2023 fifth-round pick Sean Clifford. The Packers cut Clifford and rookie seventh-round pick Michael Pratt after acquiring Willis, but they later brought Clifford back on the practice squad.

It would have helped if the Packers could have banked an early win Friday in a game Love started, but they failed to capitalize on a night when they gained 414 yards in total offense. Penalties, red-zone failures and an inability to slow down Saquon Barkley proved too much to overcome.

“There’s a lot to clean up,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “It was definitely a sloppy game, I think, from us. There were some uncharacteristic things that we did as a staff, quite frankly, and that trickled down to our players. So, ultimately, we’ve all got to look ourselves hard in the mirror and find ways to get better because tonight obviously wasn’t good enough.”

What’s working

The Packers picked off two Jalen Hurts passes, an encouraging sign for a defense that had just seven interceptions last season to rank next-to-last in the league, ahead of only Tennessee. The Packers struggled to get much yardage up the middle early but still finished with 163 yards rushing on 21 carries.

What needs work

Green Bay committed 10 penalties. …The Packers scored just one touchdown on four trips to the red zone, settling for field goals three times. … Green Bay’s defense forced three turnovers but otherwise struggled to stop Philadelphia. After forcing takeaways on Philadelphia’s first two possessions, the Packers allowed three touchdowns and a field goal on the Eagles’ next four drives.

Stock up

WR Jayden Reed showed that his impressive rookie season was no fluke. The 2023 second-round 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 nullified by offsetting penalties. Reed ended up with four receptions for 138 yards. … TE Tucker Kraft was on the field for 64 of the Packers’ 67 offensive snaps, a sign he has moved ahead of fellow second-year pro Luke Musgrave on the depth chart. Kraft caught two passes for 37 yards. Musgrave played 17 offensive snaps and had no catches.

Stock down

LT Rasheed Walker was penalized twice for holding and once for a false start. … WR Dontayvion Wicks didn’t catch a pass any of the three times he was targeted.

Injuries

On the same play in which Love was hurt, C Josh Myers also got up slowly. Myers said after the game it was just a case of leg cramps. “I was cramping really bad for like the entire second half of the game,” Myers said.

Key numbers

30/70 — Reed is one of five players since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to have a touchdown run of at least 30 yards and a touchdown catch of at least 70 yards in the same game. The others were the San Francisco 49ers' Delvin Williams against Washington in 1976, the Baltimore Colts’ Curtis Dickey against Buffalo in 1983, the Dallas Cowboys’ Herschel Walker against Philadelphia in 1986 and Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott against Pittsburgh in 2016.