Great expectations for Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have met a setback.
Love suffered an MCL sprain during the Packers’ season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday in Brazil, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Saturday, per sources.
Pelissero added that the recovery timeline for Love, whose ACL is intact, is in the range of three to six weeks, but there’s optimism he could return sooner than later, pending a second opinion.
Green Bay now must soldier on without its burgeoning star for a period of time, but the injury news not being season-ending is still positive for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Following the Packers’ Week 1 defeat, head coach Matt LaFleur simply said, “I don’t know,” when asked about the status of his franchise quarterback. Love was hit simultaneously by a pair of Eagles defenders on the final drive of the game. While news on Love was scarce, video showed his leg popping on the inside of his left knee.
Now, Green Bay knows the severity and must decide quickly on a plan at quarterback for its Week 2 home opener against the Indianapolis Colts, plus however many contests Love winds up missing afterward.
Next up on the depth chart is Malik Willis, who took over for Love on the final two plays of the game. He threw an incompletion and was sacked on the last snap of the contest. Willis was acquired via trade from the Tennessee Titans less that two weeks prior as the Packers’ backup options of Sean Clifford and rookie Michael Pratt struggled in the preseason. Willis and Clifford are the current options for Green Bay in the wake of Love’s injury.
Willis, a 2022 third-round pick of the Titans, appeared in his 12th NFL game on Friday. He’s made three starts in his NFL career and has thrown for 350 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions.
Love threw for 260 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in his first game of the 2024 season.
The 25-year-old Love is coming off his first year as the Packers’ starter since he was selected in the 2021 first round. Love struggled at the onset of the 2023 season but came on late, finishing with 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 INTs as he rallied Green Bay into the playoffs and spearheaded an upset of the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round.
Love’s rise was so impressive that it resulted in an extension that tied him for the largest contract in league history, all the while sustaining hope for a big 2024 season, one in which the Packers became a popular pick to make it to the Super Bowl.
Those best-laid plans were rendered more difficult to achieve in Week 1’s waning seconds, although Love will have something to say about that when he returns.
