#Packers Head Coach Matt LaFleur says Malik Willis is the guy if Love can’t go👇
— 97.3 The Game (@TheGameMKE) September 9, 2024
“If Jordan’s not cleared, we will start Malik.” pic.twitter.com/jGpFKNZsG4
Matt LaFleur!
IF. IF Jordan Love isn’t medically cleared!
Now look, is there a real chance that Jordan Love plays this weekend? My uneducated guess is, ‘no.’ Not only because it would be 0 weeks missed on an injury estimated to take 3-6 weeks to recover from, but also because I doubt there going to throw their new $230 million dollar franchise quarterback on the field before he’s reasonably healthy. I think this was more about Matt LaFleur very handsomely putting some doubt in the minds of the Colts’ coaches. If you suggest that Love could be available on Sunday, maybe Indianapolis will have to spend some time this week prepping for a quarterback that realistically has no chance of being out there. A little gamesmanship, if you will.
The other bit of clarification during his presser yesterday was that Malik Willis is in fact ‘the guy’ if Love can’t go. There were various reports (that LaFleur refuted) making the rounds on Sunday that the Packers had had some contact with Ryan Tannehill, or may be taking a look at other veteran quarterbacks that are free agents at the moment. But he very clearly stated that Willis would get the start and Clifford would be the backup.
Where would Willis rank on the spectrum of Seneca Wallace to Matt Flynn*?? Your guess is as good as mine. He started three games in Tennessee his rookie year with pretty rough results. And he’s only been in Green Bay for a little over two weeks, although they trusted him enough to make him the only backup quarterback on the active roster in Brazil last Friday. For their part Vegas has installed the Colts as 3.5/4 point favorites on Sunday, I doubt that would be the case if they though there was any chance Love plays. That line indicates how they feel the game will look if Willis is the starter.
All I know is that Matt LaFleur gave us some hope yesterday about Jordan Love. It might be false hope, but I’ve clung to that before and I won’t hesitate to do it again! I thought I was going to marry Topanga from 1995-1997, I can sure as hell convince myself that Jordan Love will be back in top form 8 days after suffering a knee injury. GO PACK GO! GO PACK GO!
*Feels like we need a blog where we power rank the different Aaron Rodgers backups who saw time over the years.
PS: Anytime we talk about Packer quarterback injuries and probabilities that they play, I always think of this Favre injury report:
And it was against the Colts! Get that man some sniffing salts and a few percs and he’ll be right as rain.
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