Can the Packers keep themselves afloat until Jordan Love is fully healthy again?

There are 28 NFL teams that haven’t even started the regular season, and one team is already in some trouble.

For the Green Bay Packers, the best thing they could say on Saturday is the news could have been worse. Quarterback Jordan Love has a sprained MCL in his left knee. At least it’s not a season-ending ACL injury. But that doesn’t mean all is well either.

Love is expected to miss some time, according to reports. NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported the initial timetable is 3-to-6 weeks for Love’s return though it could be earlier than that. No matter how much time Love misses, it’s hard to view the Packers quarterback missing any games in a very tough NFC North — or playing through a tough injury — as positive news.

Green Bay is 0-1 and their best case scenario is their quarterback returns relatively soon, likely before he’s fully healed, and when he does get back they’re not too far behind everyone else in the NFC.

The Packers weren’t really prepared to be without Love. When you spend $220 million on a quarterback contract, you’re not investing a lot into the backup position.

Malik Willis came in for the final two plays of Friday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after Love got his leg pinned underneath a defender, which injured his knee. Willis has been with the Packers since just Aug. 27, when the Tennessee Titans traded him to Green Bay. The Packers gave only a seventh-round pick for Willis, which means the Titans might have been ready to cut him and Green Bay viewed him as a potential developmental project. But there’s no time to develop him now.

Willis, a 2022 third-round pick, has looked good at times in the preseason. He has not played well in the regular season. He has three NFL starts and a career passer rating of 48.7, with a 52.2% completion percentage, no touchdowns and three interceptions. Sean Clifford has shown so little that he was demoted to the practice squad and passed by a quarterback who has been with the team less than two weeks and has a…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-09-07 20:17:19

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