The most likely outcome for the Green Bay Packers this week is that Jordan Love will be sidelined with a sprained MCL. Malik Willis is expected to start in his place.
But the fact that Packers coach Matt LaFleur hasn’t ruled out Love playing in Week 2 has to be positive news for Green Bay fans hoping their quarterback returns soon.
LaFleur said the door is still open for Love to play this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
“I would say it’s pretty open,” LaFleur said. at his press conference on Wednesday.
LaFleur also said Monday that he wouldn’t rule out Love for Week 2.
Realistically, it’s hard to imagine the Packers putting their $220 million quarterback on the field nine days after he suffered a sprained MCL. Initial reports on his diagnosis said he would likely miss 3-6 weeks. It’s not unreasonable to believe Love could play, but the question would be whether the Packers were putting him at greater risk and whether he could be effective at much less than 100%.
“He has to get the OK, we have to feel like he can protect himself and he has to have enough confidence to go out there and do it,” LaFleur said. “Until that happens, we’re not even going to think about it.”
The problem is that the Packers have to worry about how things will look when Love returns. They’re already 0-1. They play in a very tough division and Willis hasn’t had any success throwing the ball in the regular season.
Willis has a career passer rating of 48.7 and a completion percentage of 52.2%. On top of those issues, he’s practically new to the Packers. The Packers and Tennessee Titans agreed to a trade that sent Willis to Green Bay on Aug. 27. That’s not a lot of time to learn an offense.
LaFleur didn’t seem concerned about that on Wednesday.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with a rookie who has no experience,” LaFleur said. “A lot of these offenses do similar things, it’s just how you do it, when you do it, who you put where.”
The best-case scenario would be that Love doesn’t miss too much time. If the Packers still have hopes that he’ll play in Week 2, that creates optimism that he’ll return in September, perhaps as early as Week 3. Until then, the Packers will try to stay afloat. Maybe Love surprises everyone and is ready to start on Sunday. LaFleur isn’t ruling that out.
