Jones Joins Love for Workouts

About a month before the start of offseason workouts in Green Bay, Jordan Love is throwing passes to Aaron Jones.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Mar 29, 2023 5:37 PM EDT
Original:
Mar 29, 2023

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has a lot of chemistry to build with the skill-position players who will be joining him on the field for Week 1. That process has begun.

Love, who had been throwing to receiver Romeo Doubs at Steve Calhoun’s Armed and Dangerous training center in Anaheim, Calif., has started working out with star running back Aaron Jones, as well. Jones posted a video to his Instagram.

Love is doing what he can to put himself in the best possible position to replace Aaron Rodgers. While coach Matt LaFleur talked of “temper(ing) our expectations,” the bar will be incredibly high as Love follows in the footsteps of Rodgers and Brett Favre, who won a combined seven MVP awards.

“I just think it’s going to be a progression,” LaFleur said on Tuesday at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “Certainly, I think we’re fooling ourselves if we think he’s going to go out there and perform at a level to the likes of an Aaron Rodgers. This guy is a once-in-a-lifetime, generational talent, and I don’t think it necessarily started that way when he first started. But he progressed into that.

“Like I said, it’s going to be a progression and, hopefully, we can surround him with enough people to help him perform at the best of his ability. And then we’ve got to do a great job as a coaching staff.”

Assuming Rodgers is traded to the New York Jets, Love will be stepping into the starting lineup following a promising 2022 season that included a sharp 6-of-9 showing in relief of an injured Rodgers at Philadelphia in November.

“I’ve seen him do that many, many times over the years where he would just come out and he’s really locked in,” Calhoun said recently. “He’s understanding all the details that I want him to do, so he’s gotten comfortable with the footwork and the throwing mechanics that I’ve been hammering on year by year by year.

“To see him do it against the Philadelphia Eagles and they were having an unbelievable season and they were really good on defense, to see him throw the ball like that and have that confidence, I was really excited for him. Really happy for him.”

The Packers will gather in Green Bay for the start of the offseason program on April 17. The first of nine organized team activities – shorts-and-helmets practices – spread over three weeks will be held on May 22. The only mandatory part of the offseason, minicamp, will be conducted June 13 through June 15.