Scrambling Jordan Love’s Got Legs, And He Knows How to Use Them

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The opening lyrics of ZZ Top’s Legs are “She’s got legs, she knows how to use them.”

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has legs, and he’s learning how to use them.

Love isn’t Lamar Jackson but he’s also not a statue in the pocket. After choosing not to use his legs during his first season as the starter in 2023 and being unable to use them in 2024, Love has unleashed his secret weapon more this season.

It’s a low bar, obviously, with Love slowed by knee and groin injuries last year, but his 88 rushing yards through five games is 5 yards more than in his 15 games last season. Love is on pace to carry the ball 68 times for 299 yards and pick up 24 first downs. In 2023 and 2024 combined, his totals were 75 carries for 230 yards and 25 first downs.

Love rushed for a career-high three first downs in the 27-18 win over the Bengals.

“That’s big time for us,” coach Matt LaFleur said, “because it’s impossible to always have the perfect play call.”

On the opening drive of the game, Love converted a third-and-7 – breaking a tackle along the way – and a fourth-and-1 with a no-tush-push-required quarterback sneak. That drive ended when Love eluded a sack but threw a red-zone interception.

“Sometimes the best answer vs. a two-man coverage is to take off and run,” LaFleur said of the third-and-7. “He did exactly that and was able to get a first down, which was big for us.”

One of the big plays of the game came with 9 minutes remaining in regulation. On third-and-1, Love rushed from shotgun to the line of scrimmage for what appeared to be another sneak. Instead, it was a rollout to the right. The Bengals had it defended perfectly, but Love eluded two tacklers and somehow gained 3 yards for the first down.

The biggest 3 yards of the game. pic.twitter.com/E0GkBB089e
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 13, 2025

Two plays later, Love threw a touchdown pass to Tucker Kraft to make the score 24-10.

“I think always quarterbacks using their legs and trying to extend plays when the routes are covered or things break down in the pocket is huge,” Love said after the game. “It puts that extra layer of pressure on the defense.”

It’s pressure he hasn’t put on defenses often enough in the past.

“I think that’s something that I had to focus on coming into the season was trying to use my legs more and extend some of these plays,” he continued. “Obviously, last year, was dealing with some things so I wasn’t moving around as much, so it’s definitely been a big emphasis for me and it’s been huge to be able to extend some of these plays, especially on third-and-short. So, just got to keep trying to find ways to do that but I think it’s been great.”

There’s more out there for Love. While he’s running more, he’s not running a lot.

Through Week 6, Love among quarterbacks ranks 17th with 20 carries, 18th with 88 rushing yards and tied for 18th with seven first downs. The early bye isn’t a major factor; he’s 21st with 17.6 rushing yards per game.

No one is asking Love to start playing like Jackson or Jalen Hurts or Josh Allen. But scrambles are some of the easiest yards out there; they also can be relatively risk-free yards because of the considerable protection rules revisions have given quarterbacks.

It’s not just Love learning he should run more, it’s learning how to run better. On Green Bay’s final possession, it faced a second-and-7 with 2:19 remaining. One more first down might have run out the rest of the clock. Love had a chance when he took off around the right corner and did a baseball slide for a gain of 5. With a head-first dive, he probably would have gained the first down.

It wasn’t the first time this season that Love gave himself up short of the marker. LaFleur said a “point of emphasis” for Love is to occasionally pump-fake while on the run. That’s something Love’s predecessor, Aaron Rodgers, did frequently.

“I think even if you’re past the sticks sometimes you do that, you can get a guy to freeze,” LaFleur said.

Instead, in the case of that late second-and-7, the Packers wound up needing fill-in kicker Lucas Havrisik to make a field goal to put the game away, which he did.

“Do whatever you’ve got to do,” LaFleur said. “If you’ve got to go win the game and get a first down – we talked about it today. He slid. Do you dive forward because you get protection now in that moment? Do you run somebody over? What do you got to do?

“Bottom line is I don’t want him to be reckless but, at the same time, there’s situations, especially on those got-to-have-it situations, whether it’s third down, fourth down, where he may have to just go get it, and he’s done that this year.”

The Packers are No. 1 in the NFL on third down this season. Last week, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said the “big thing” in that success was Love’s scrambling and extending of plays.

Love ran for a total of 16 yards in the season-opening wins. He’s topped that figure each of the last three games.

“It’s just something I had that focus coming into the season,” Love said. “Looking at what we did last year, I think there were some opportunities where I could’ve extended the plays and made some plays with my legs. So, it’s definitely been a focus coming into OTAs, training camp where if it’s not there, trying to find ways to use my legs.”

More Green Bay Packers News