Packers QB Jordan Love Unleashes New Weapon

GREEN BAY; Wis. – During training camp, Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich was asked if he’d like to see his quarterback, Jordan Love, run more often.

“Absolutely,” he said.

On Thursday night against the Washington Commanders, Love showed why he needs to unleash what should be a major weapon in his game.

On third-and-9 in the first quarter, Love had clear sailing to the right. Standing between him and the first-down marker was cornerback Trey Amos. Love could have tried to elude Amos or dive for the first down. Instead, he made like Josh Jacobs, put down his right shoulder and plowed through Amos for a 14-yard run and a first down that set up the first touchdown of a 27-18 victory.

“At first, you start to take off and look to see if you can have a pass, anybody’s working for a scramble-drill type thing, and then just felt that room,” Love said on Wednesday. “As I took off and I could see the sticks on the sideline, knew I was going to be short. I saw the corner coming, so I knew I was going to have to try and lower my shoulder, try and make that play, get the first.”

And he did.

For his efforts, he was anointed the winner of Kyle Brandt’s Angry Run of the Week, a major award handed out by NFL Network.

“Yeah, that was cool. That was cool,” Love said. “I never thought I’d be winning something like that, Angry Runs, but it’s cool.”

Love might not be two-time MVP Lamar Jackson or even backup Malik Willis, but he’s an excellent athlete at the position. His Relative Athletic Score was 8.46. However, he’s never taken full advantage of that skill, which is why Stenavich “absolutely” wanted Love to run more often.

“I think that’s a huge weapon and Jordan has that ability to make some big plays down the field, so we encourage that, for sure,” Stenavich said.

In 2023 and 2024, Love’s first two seasons as the starter, he ran the ball 75 times. That ranked 23rd over that span. Three players who were rookies in 2024 were among the players with more runs than Love. Heck, Love barely had more rushes than aging Aaron Rodgers had during  his final two seasons in Green Bay.

Sure, last year’s knee and groin injuries made Love more of a pocket passer and impacted the numbers, but Love was only 14th in runs when healthy in 2023.

Would Love have tried that play last season? Probably not, he said.

“It’s one of those things, when you’re playing, you’re not thinking too much,” Love said. “You’re just going out there and playing free, playing fast and split-second decisions like that, you don’t really have too much time to process my body’s feeling a certain type of way, so I’m always (going to) try and go out there and get that first, but who knows what I would’ve been feeling last year.”

Playing with an injured left thumb, Love has run the ball six times this season. Three of those were kneel-downs to end games, so he’s really only had three true runs.

The 14-yarder against Washington was the sixth-longest of his career.

“Everybody said it was nice but don’t do it again,” Love said of his physical finish.

Coach Matt LaFleur was focused more on his play call than Love’s decision.

“Sometimes you just got to do what you got to do,” LaFleur said. “Obviously, that was a huge play, getting us down there and leading to a touchdown. Ideally, in a perfect world, you give him a better play for the coverage, so he does not have to do that, and you can get somebody open. …

“So, that’s one of the things that we’ve talked about. The thing that I really liked that he did was he was really decisive when he decided to take off and go. There was no hesitation. And I think that’s what you got to do, is when you recognize that your concept’s not going to be great, can you pull the ball down and get what you can? And, you know, since he came out healthy, I feel really good about it.”

Love only cared about the bottom-line result.

“We got the first. That’s all that matters,” he said.

Since taking over as the starter, Love is tied for 21st among quarterbacks with 27 rushing first downs. Of those, 17 have come on third or fourth down, which is well behind Jalen Hurts (90) and Josh Allen (73) but not too far behind noted scramblers such as Bryce Young (23) and Kyler Murray (20).

“Oh, man, it’s third down right there,” Love said. “I saw the sticks. I knew we only needed a couple more yards trying to pick it up, so I’m a competitor. I’m going to try and go out there and get it no matter who’s out there.

“But it’s just one of those things, you always balance being smart, things like that, but it’s football. I’m a football player. I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’m not scared of a little contact.”