If one thing is clear in Green Bay, it is that expectations have grown exponentially for the quarterback.
GREEN BAY — If there’s a word to describe what’s coming for Jordan Love in 2024, it is the following: further.
Los Green Bay Packers They need exactly that from their quarterback, in his second season as a starter.
Jordan Love finished last year on fire, with 18 touchdowns and one interception in the final eight games, heading into the playoffs. Cooper Neill/Getty Images
More leadership.
More comfort.
More variety.
More of everything.
In a way, that has already begun.
When the Packers They finalized their running back change at the beginning of free agency — something that the head coach Matt LaFleur He admitted last week that he “surprised me with my guard down,” referring to how quickly they pivoted to sign Josh Jacobs after what Aaron Jones reject a salary cut–, not only did it signal the departure of who was perhaps the most dynamic weapon in Love. Sin Jonesthe locker room also lost one of its most universally respected leaders.
“We have talked so many times about how much [Jones] contributed to our team, and that’s probably never going to show up on the stat sheet in terms of just being a veteran presence in the locker room,” he said. LaFleur before reporters last week, during the annual meeting of owners of the NFL. “He’s always thought of the team first. He walks the talk, and he does it all. He’s so professional. So, I think that’s always hard to replace.
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“Naturally, someone will have to step forward. And I spoke to Jordan a little about this. He has one year of experience as a starter. Now I expect more from him. I think we all do it. I think he expects more from himself, which is great. So guys like him are going to have to carry some of that leadership going forward.”
As respect grew for Love Throughout last season, the same thing happened with his comfort in a leadership role. Now, he is at a point where he takes the initiative to welcome free agent veterans when they sign.
“In fact, he contacted me once everything was finished and congratulated me and welcomed me to the team,” the new safety admitted. Xavier McKinney.
Throw for 4,159 yards with 32 touchdowns and lead a dominant performance in a playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys will increase the comfort and credibility of Love.
“I’m really happy for Jordan, the way he played. And, not only the level that he showed — especially, as the season progressed, he seemed to gain more and more confidence — but his leadership,” said the president of the Packers, Mark Murphy, recently. “We saw that throughout this past offseason and certainly throughout the season. So, I’m very, very pleased with the way he’s played, and I just think the future is very bright.”
That is where LaFleurthe offensive coordinator Adam Stenavichand the rest of the attendees enter.
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A year ago, they had seen Love start exactly one match NFL and they had no idea who he might be throwing at Love. Luke Musgrave y Tucker Kraftwho ended up being their two best tight ends in 2023, along with prolific wide receivers Jayden Reed y Dontayvion Wickswere just projections for a draft that was weeks away from taking place.
“Before the draft last year, we didn’t even know who would be on our team,” he confessed. LaFleur. “So, it’s tough to plan and really put together an offense when you have no idea, when you don’t necessarily know who the tight ends are going to be. They didn’t really know who your other tight ends were going to be. So, there were some holes. … Having everything mapped out. “It helps you plan a little bit better, I think, and be very deliberate with your offseason. I think we’ll have a better plan in place when the guys come back in terms of where we want to take our offense.”
It took until just past the midseason point last year for LaFleur y Love They got the offense going, with the quarterback finishing on fire with 18 touchdowns and one interception in the final eight games heading into the playoffs.
There were times early in the season when it didn’t matter what they tried LaFleur y Love, nothing came out. October was a month without victories, and by the time the end of that month came, the Packers They were stuck at 2-5. Few could have imagined a final 9-8 regular season record and a humiliating victory over the Cowboys in the Wild Card Round.
“Expectations are going to be different,” he noted. LaFleur. “It’s about how you deal with it. What I love about it — or there are a lot of things I love about it — but one of the things that has impressed me most about Jordan is his ability to learn from every situation, both good and bad.
“There were some tough lessons in that last meet that I hope he learns from, and I know he will do everything in his power to come back and be even better than he was last year.”
It works both ways, however. Opponents entered last season without much of a scouting report around Love and its trends. Now, they have 19 video games, including the playoffs.
“There will be different challenges,” declared the general manager of the Packers, Brian Gutekunst. “I think, I hope, as you go through your first year as a starter, and he and Matt and other teammates work together on how to overcome the obstacles that are in front of us, they have a better idea of how to work together to solve those during the week and during the games.
“So, I think certainly, I hope, that experience will continue. But, every year is different, and the challenge, you can try to anticipate it, but you don’t really know where those obstacles will come from, so they will be different. But, again, I think that to have a year of challenges to work together and the continuity of that, I hope, will serve us well in the future.
2024-04-04 20:03:04
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