GREEN BAY – It turned out the sack Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love took in last week’s preseason opener wasn’t harmless.
Love tried to brace himself for impact as the New York Jets defensive line closed on him during a third-and-4 sack. He was able to avoid a long-term injury, but Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said his quarterback injured his left thumb on the play.
Gutekunst described the injury as a “ligament” issue. Despite practicing two days later, Love had surgery Aug. 11 on his non-throwing hand. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, the surgery “went perfect.”
Love will not miss any regular-season snaps because of the surgery and is expected to return to practice next week, Gutekunst said. The quarterback will be unavailable for the Packers joint practice and preseason contest against the Indianapolis Colts this week.
“That last play, when he split two guys,” Gutekunst said. “I think a helmet just got it.”
It’s unclear how much Love will be able to practice next week, or if he’ll play in the preseason finale against the Seattle Seahawks. Coach Matt LaFleur’s initial plan for Love and the rest of the starters was to not play in the Aug. 16 preseason game at Indianapolis before taking a few snaps against the Seahawks.
“He’s had a good camp so far,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, I think as he gets back, we’ll kind of assess where he’s at. It’s one of those things where I think he’ll be back at practice next week. How much he can do leading into that Seattle game, we’ll kind of see. He’ll be day to day a little bit.
“You never want any of these guys to be out because you want to be working as a team. They all need the work, but obviously more importantly he’ll be ready for Week 1. That’s the most important thing.”
LaFleur said Love will have the thumb surgery Aug. 12. He made it through the Packers practice Aug. 11 without aggravating the injury. LaFleur said his initial concern was how Love might handle snaps, but there were no issues under center or in shotgun during practice.
Love met with LaFleur and Packers trainers on the field after practice. LaFleur said it’s “highly unlikely” Love will play any more preseason snaps, even against the Seahawks.
Staff writer Tom Silverstein contributed to this report.
This story was updated to include additional information.
“From what I’ve been understanding,” LaFleur said, “it’s a pretty relatively quick recovery. So hopefully we’ll be able to get him back out in some capacity sometime next week to work on and work through, because I’ve never personally dealt with a situation like this. So there’s going to be some learning curve along the way in terms of how do we adapt and how do we adjust.”
A year ago, Love’s second season as starting quarterback was marred with lingering injuries. He sprained the MCL in his right knee during the Packers opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil, missing the next two games. Love returned Week 4, but he had a groin injury Week 7 at Jacksonville and missed the second half.
In the regular-season finale, Love injured the ulnar nerve in his right, throwing elbow, an injury he played through during the Packers playoff loss at the Eagles.
The Packers are optimistic Love’s latest injury will not affect any meaningful snaps this season. Their decision to opt for surgery was an attempt to prevent the ligament damage from lingering into the fall. Gutekunst said his quarterback is expected to be with the team in Indianapolis this week, despite not being available.
“I think he had some options with what he could do,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, you guys saw him out there. He certainly was able to function, but as we looked at all the options – and he did as well – the best option for him to get back the fastest and feel the best was to do this. I think he wanted to go out there yesterday to see how it felt. Once he got through that, we made the decision.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers quarterback Jordan Love injured his left thumb, likely will miss a week of practice
Reporting by Ryan Wood, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
