Jordan Love wants to play against the Detroit Lions in what will end up being a huge matchup for the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 of the NFL season.
He wants to play, but is it best for him to play as he tries to recover from a groin injury he suffered against the Jacksonville Jaguars? He didn’t practice on Wednesday but said that he can play on Sunday without much or any practice, via ESPN.
The problem? Head coach Matt LaFleur doesn’t sound as enthusiastic about that idea.
“He’s moving around better,” LaFleur said on Wednesday. “We’ll see, again, we’ll take it one day a time. Certainly, yeah, we’ll push the envelope with that. I know he wants to play, but we’ll see where he’s at by the end of the week.”
Saying that they’ll push the envelope is one thing, but keep in mind that the Packers have what has turned out to be a tremendous backup quarterback in Malik Willis. They’re 2-0 in his starts, and he was one of the reasons they beat the Jaguars when Love went down with the groin injury.
From LaFleur’s perspective, he can win with Willis just like he can with Love, so why rush Love back from injury? That’s especially a concern when considering the fact that Love had injured his MCL earlier this season and missed two games because of it.
There’s a case to be made that Love rushed back from the first injury, and he hasn’t been all that accurate in 2024 with nine interceptions to his name, so there’s also a case to be made that he’s not fully “right.”
He was playing hobbled for much of the Jacksonville game, and that clearly hurt his ability as well as the offense.
This isn’t a “must-win” game for the 6-2 Packers, but it is a game they’d like to win considering the NFC North is most likely going to come down to them and the Lions.
Even a game like this isn’t worth risking your $220 million quarterback long-term, though, so expect LaFleur and the Packers to be conservative with Love, as they should be.
Love wants to do it. Willis can do it.