The Green Bay Packers gave Jordan Love one test drive as a starter before they handed him the keys to be the full-time starter this season. It didn’t go so well, and general manager Brian Gutekunst recently assigned blame for the team’s shortcomings in the 13-7 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2021 season.
Jordan Love had a rough first start
Love started the game after Aaron Rodgers had to sit out the contest with Covid-19. Love put up low numbers, going 19-of-34 passing for 190 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He finished with a QBR rating of 33.1 for his efforts in his first NFL start. That wasn’t a stellar way to give the Packers fanbase that Love would be a good successor for a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Green Bay Packers GM blames coaches for Love’s debut
Gutekunst was recently interviewed by Matt Schneidman in a piece for The Athletic. Gutekunst blamed Love’s poor play on the Packers coaching staff for coming up with a lousy gameplan against the Chiefs:
“But that afternoon is one of the reasons Gutekunst is encouraged about Love taking over. Why? Start with the 16 quarterback pressures the Packers allowed.
“We didn’t have a great plan for him there,” Gutekunst told
Athletic. “I thought the way he responded to that, the way he handled himself in the midst of that chaos in a tough time … I think it gave us confidence that he could stay poised in those moments.”
Love will have to adjust to pressure in the NFL quickly this season. Teams will show Love pressure until he can withstand it. The Packers coaching staff can only do so much to protect Love this season. However, it’s interesting that Gutekunst thinks the coaching staff should have aided him more in the Kansas City start.
One wonders if the Packers coaching staff will try to “coddle” him in games to start the season. After all, in this transition year, head coach Matt LaFleur said they needed to temper their expectations for Love.
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