In one desperate attempt to keep a final-minute play alive, Jordan Love suffered a knee injury that could potentially derail the Packers’ lofty plans for 2024.
There’s still plenty of optimism Love will be back soon. But as it currently stands, the job belongs to Malik Willis, a backup who joined Green Bay in August with just three starts under his belt in two NFL seasons.
He has just a week to prepare for his latest start — and his first with the Packers.
“The reality is I just got here, so it’s gonna be a little bit in overdrive,” Willis said of preparing to face the Colts at Lambeau Field, via the team’s official site. “It’s been pretty much around the clock since I got here. You try to come in and be ready to go if you’re called upon.”
Willis arrived to the Packers via a trade on Aug. 26, 11 days before Green Bay faced the Philadelphia Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil. He spent the majority of that game as the backup, watching Love operate the offense in a back-and-forth affair before Love’s knee injury forced Willis into action.
His two snaps did not go well. He missed his target on his first attempt, and with just three seconds left, Willis was unable release a desperate heave, instead being sacked by Zack Baun to end the game.
It wasn’t an encouraging sample size, which was admittedly small. It was also reminiscent of how Willis performed in Tennessee during his rookie season, which prompted the Titans to sign Joshua Dobbs off the Lions practice squad and start him eight days later.
The compensation for Willis — a seventh-round pick — was telling of how the Titans thought of him by the time they decided to move on. But with Willis now in Green Bay and preparing to take starting snaps once again, that’s all in the past.
When Week 2 arrives, he’ll see many more snaps than he did in Week 1 — and Packers fans will hope he performs better.
“He’s got to communicate to us and let us know where he’s at,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of the week of preparation. “Certainly we’ll go through it and comb it at the end of the week and probably ‘X’ out some things if he’s not very comfortable with it, and star the things that he really likes.
“I’m confident that he’ll tell me if he’s uncomfortable with something.”
Comfort will be a natural issue for a quarterback with only three starts under his belt. It’s difficult for any signal-caller to adjust to the speed and complexity of the NFL game in such a short span of on-field experience. But Willis claims he’s not the same quarterback he was in 2022.
“I’ve only played three games and I was a rookie, call it what you want to … I wasn’t ready yet,” Willis said. “But I had to go in and I’m a different player than then.
“It’s not about what you know, it’s about what you can prove on the field. You know what I mean?”
Packers fans will learn what Willis means Sunday. They’re hoping it means a happy ending.
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