The Green Bay Packers are 2-4 and are facing the tough task of playing the Minnesota Vikings in their Week 8 matchup. Minnesota is coming off of a huge win against the San Francisco 49ers and has lead-frogged Green Bay in the NFC North standings.
One of the biggest storylines of the last few weeks, marked by the Packers’ three-game losing streak, has been the inconsistent play of Jordan Love. After starting out the season with six touchdown passes and no interceptions in his first two games, the first-year starter (fourth-year veteran) has just four touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
While many fans are ready to close the door on Love and look ahead to drafting a new quarterback in 2024, head coach Matt LaFleur is not there yet. In fact, he spoke twice this week about how confident he is in his starter.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur Says His Confidence in Jordan Love Has Not Wavered
With a chance to move further down the field and win the game on Sunday, Jordan Love threw an interception when targeting Samori Toure on third and 20. Despite throwing two touchdowns and completing 67.7% of his passes, the interception in a crucial part of the game is what people choose to remember and focus on.
On Monday, LaFleur was asked if he was still confident in his starting quarterback. The Packers head coach held nothing back in his reply:
“It all works in unison, so the better everybody is around him, the better he’s going to look. Our confidence in him is not wavering one bit.
“Certainly as the play-caller you put a lot of onus on yourself when things aren’t going well, and we’ll continue to do that, but we’ve got to find a way to generate more points because when you’re generating points, it’s just a totally different narrative.”
While Love, as the quarterback, gets most of the blame when a play goes wrong, it is worth noting that his offensive line has not done a great job blocking for him, and his pass catchers consistently make mistakes running their routes.
This is what LaFleur meant when he said “The better everybody is around him, the better he is going to look.”
Matt LaFleur Reveals What the Green Bay Packers Are Looking for When Evaluating Jordan Love
Given the plethora of issues the Packers are having with their offensive line and young wide receivers, it may be difficult for Green Bay to get a fair evaluation of Love. During his media session today, LaFleur was asked what exactly it is that he is looking for when evaluating Love and whether or not he has a future with the team.
LaFleur responded:
“I think it’s the same thing that we evaluate all these guys on. Specifically at the quarterback position, it’s the timing, the accuracy, and how are his fundamentals. Is he pulling the trigger? Is he being decisive?
“We’ve used this old saying: indecisive means ineffective. And so he’s just got to continue to get those reps. He had a great day of practice and, hopefully, he has a great week of practice, and that translates to Sunday.
“So, it’s not just about him, though. I’ve said that so many times. We need everybody. We need all 10 men around him to do their job as well. Otherwise, you don’t have a chance.”
From these two interviews, it is clear that the Packers have not given up on Love. In fact, LaFleur said their confidence in him has not wavered.
However, perhaps the front office put too much faith in his young supporting cast to play mistake-free enough for them to get a good evaluation of what they have in their quarterback. The mistakes made by the rest of the offense have caused Love to be in an unenviable position: he has to prove that he is the future of the franchise while playing with players who are still learning the playbook and how to be professional.
He didn’t ask for the Packers to draft him, and he didn’t ask to go into the season with no veteran wide receivers. The Packers made this bed for him. Now they have to hope the rest of the offense proves that they went in the right direction.
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