Jordan Love And the Tug of War of Expectations

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said Jordan Love has to “prove” he’s the “right guy” at quarterback.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
May 24, 2023 11:31 AM EDT

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The standard with the Green Bay Packers is high. While they won only two Super Bowls in three decades with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, they were perennial contenders.

That’s the big-picture standard. The standard that Jordan Love is embracing is more day-to-day.

“Everyone who’s been here has been able to see the standard that’s been set by the guys that have been here before,” Love said after Tuesday’s OTA. “I think we just continue to do that and carry it over with great practice habits, try to build that consistency every day and just being able to give it everything you’ve got at practice every day, not taking any reps off and not taking any rep for granted.”

Love, obviously, will be under an intense spotlight as he replaces the four-time MVP Rodgers. Of NFC quarterbacks, Love “unquestionably” is under the most pressure, ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky said.

“You were a first-round pick who got a contract extension without ever playing. They ran a Hall of Fame quarterback out of town for you. You’ve got to go prove that you are the right guy,” Orlovsky said.

With Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs joined by rookies Jayden Reed, Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft, a potential-packed group of pass-catching threats is part of what Orlovsky termed a “very healthy roster.”

The process of young quarterback growing with young pass-catchers started this week with Week 1 of organized team activities. At Tuesday’s practice, Love started slowly before throwing three touchdown passes.

The bumps in the road won’t bother coach Matt LaFleur so long as the road gets smoother the further Love travels down it.

“I think a lot of us, it’s just human nature, you’re going to learn more from your failures than you are from your successes,” LaFleur said after practice. “I think that’s just part of the process. As long as you’re not repeating those mistakes and you can see those incremental improvements, I think that’s what we’re looking for.”

So long as Love’s journey is a steady rise, some factors work in the team’s factor for bouncing back from last year’s dismal 8-9 season.

The NFC, in general, and the NFC North, in particular, “is not loaded,” Orlovsky continued, meaning there’s no reason why the Packers shouldn’t be a playoff team or at least in contention down the stretch.

Furthermore, Love won’t have to do it alone. He won’t have to be Superman. He won’t have to win MVP. While the receivers and tight ends are young, the running backs, offensive line and defense are talented and experienced. With what could be a really strong supporting cast, Orlovsky said the expectation is for Love to “play tremendous football.”

“The expectation shouldn’t be that Jordan Love’s OK,” Orlovsky said. “The expectation should be that Jordan Love doesn’t skip a beat to what the Packers have been.”

While it’s Orlovsky’s job to speak realistically about expectations – just OK is not OK, as one cell-phone company likes to say – it’s LaFleur’s job to manage those expectations for his first-year starting quarterback. For Love in 2023, playing like vintage Rodgers is unlikely. Rodgers, after all, didn’t play like Favre during his first season as the starter. That Packers team went from 13-3 and a trip to the NFC Championship Game with Favre in 2007 to 6-10 with Rodgers in 2008.

So, with OTAs under way, the evaluation of Love will be the same as it was for Rodgers.

“Same thing we do every year with every other quarterback in terms of just the whole operation, the process, their ability to go out there and make great decisions, throw on time, throw with accuracy,” LaFleur said. “Every play is dissected or looked at under a microscope, and trying to be super-intentional in what we ask them to do.”

Then, LaFleur hit on the reality. Love has a lot to prove. Watson and Doubs showed their talent in flashes but weren’t consistent difference-makers. The rookies are rookies.

“Certainly, I think, and I know I’ve said it before in terms of just, we’ve got to see what everybody else around him can do, as well,” LaFleur said. “And we’ve got some youth, so it’s going to be a work in progress, no doubt about it, throughout the course of OTA’s and training camp and quite frankly throughout the course of the season.”