The Green Bay Packers have maintained their quarterback play about as well as any franchise can. From Brett Favre, the team seamlessly transitioned to the Aaron Rodgers era, who in turn paved the way for Jordan Love to take over as QB1 beginning with the 2023 season. Over two years, the youngster has shown immense talent and potential, alongside a worrying trend.
In his two full seasons as a starter, Love has been markedly better in the second half of the season compared to the first. A direct cause of that switch might be the preseason, where Love has received very little run over the last two years. As a result, his playing time as the Packers begin their preseason slate against the New York Jets was a major topic of conversation ahead of the game.
Will Jordan Love Suit Up Against the New York Jets?
His first year as a starter, Love had a tremendous season overall, tallying 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns. However, an injury kept him out for two games in his second year, as his numbers took a dip across the board.
Averaged statistics like completion percentage (63.1%) and TD-INT ratio (25/11) were down across the board. The risk-to-reward style of his quarterbacking did bring some inconsistency to the entire Packers offense as a whole.
As a result, after an explosive first year where they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round, their 2024 campaign came to a grinding halt against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The problems with his style were exposed once again, as Love finished the game with 212 yards and three interceptions, without recording a single touchdown. As a result, going into his third year as the full-time starter, the organization has to be hoping for a better year from its franchise quarterback.
Jordan Love asked about playing in the preseason. Sure sounds like he’s expecting to get snaps.
“I think everybody has the mindset we’re expecting to play.”
Asked Love what he can actually learn about himself at this stage of his development in August: pic.twitter.com/1CnPVK1rCO
— Ryan Wood (@ByRyanWood) August 6, 2025
The first step towards that improvement starts with a Week 1 preseason clash versus the Jets. And Love is fully onboard with the idea of getting some reps in. “I think it’s always nice to get a couple preseason snaps just to put yourself back in that game mode mentality.”
For the time being, it looks like head coach Matt LaFleur is going to honor his wish. Citing a data survey, he revealed, “According to my sources, there’s a lot of injury data that supports playing guys in the preseason in regards to reducing the injury risk early in the season.”
As a result, he plans on having all four quarterbacks on the roster get some reps against New York. How that translates in game-time action remains to be seen. But the growing belief is that Malik Willis, the primary backup to Love for the year, is going to see the majority of playing time.
With LaFleur changing his preseason directives this year, Love will have a chance to get his legs under him by the time the regular season begins. Slow starts followed by explosive second halves have plagued both his NFL seasons so far.
Perhaps a longer run in the preseason can help him buck the trend.
