Love Will Face Much Bigger Challenge at Minicamp

The level of competition will be raised for first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love at Packers minicamp this week.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love led the No. 1 offense three times when reporters were present for the voluntary organized team activities. His best day came on May 31, when he completed 15-of-21 passes.

That was against the cornerback trio of Shemar Jean-Charles, Corey Ballentine and Kiondre Thomas.

It will be a much, much bigger and more realistic challenge when the mandatory minicamp begins on Tuesday.

After skipping OTAs, two-time Pro Bowler Jaire Alexander, who had five interceptions last season, and Rasul Douglas, who ranks third in the NFL with nine interceptions the past two seasons, are expected to be the No. 1 cornerbacks. Keisean Nixon, who was absent from that May 31 practice, will be in the slot.

Iron sharpens iron, as coaches and players like to say. There aren’t many better battle-hardened cornerback tandems in the NFL than Alexander and Douglas.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Alexander allowed sub-50 percent completion rates in 2019, 2020 and 2021. That jumped to 56.5 percent in 2022, when he allowed 12 yards or less in seven games. Douglas ranked among the NFL leaders with a 44.2 percent completion rate in 2021. That jumped to 60.3 percent in 2022 due in part to his struggles in the slot, but he allowed less than 20 yards in eight of 17 games.

Throwing at them will be a lot different than throwing at Jean-Charles, Ballentine, Thomas and rookie Carrington Valentine. During the three practices open to reporters, Love completed 36-of-60 passes (60.0 percent), including 30-of-44 (68.2 percent) the last two practices.

“It’s about being accurate, throwing on time, making the right decisions, putting the ball in the right spot, so I’ve been encouraged, especially over the course of this last week,” coach Matt LaFleur said after last week’s practice.

“One of the things we’ve talked about in that room is just how important it’s really the process of playing quarterback. I’m less concerned about the end result right now, but I do believe that if the process is correct, he is going to be more consistent.”

For Love, a big part of that process is delivering the ball to the right person at the right time when in the pocket.

“I think what I wanted to accomplish was playing with a base, playing on time, and progressions, pocket movement, being able to stay balanced, keep my base the whole time. That’s been the biggest thing,” he said.

“I know I can, if a play breaks down, I know I can make off-schedule plays and things like that. My biggest thing has been trying to play with a base, stay in the pocket, be able to go through my reads and be on time. I think I’ve done a great job and been able to improve on that but it’s always something you’ve got to be conscious of and focus on every day.”

The presence of Alexander and Douglas will make those on-schedule plays more difficult because of their ability to eliminate the primary reads. That might make for some frustrating moments during this week’s minicamp, not to mention during the dog days of training camp in August, but their instincts and ball skills will help Love get ready to replace Aaron Rodgers, just like they helped Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs when they were rookie receivers trying to replace Davante Adams last year.

“I’ve seen where he’s at mentally,” Watson said of Love recently. “His knowledge of the game and our offense and his mindset of what he wants to accomplish and what we want to accomplish as a team, he has that standard set in his mind.

“There’s pressure that comes with just playing in this league. It’s a big stage and, obviously, a huge stage for him being one of 32 quarterbacks who are starting in this league. He knows that there’s pressure, I know that there’s pressure. But, at the end of the day, he knows what he’s capable of and he knows the work that he’s put in over these past three years has only prepared him to do what he’s going to do going forward.”

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