GREEN BAY – Though Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love sustained a torn ligament in his left thumb in the first preseason game last year, he’s set to play in this week’s preseason opener at Pittsburgh.
Love suffered the injury last year when he hit his left thumb on an opponent’s helmet as he was being sacked. He had surgery so the thumb would not be an issue all season, and he played in the regular-season opener, but the injury did limit the work he could do in practice for the rest of the preseason.
Coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Aug. 11 that Love and the starters will play Aug. 13 against the Steelers.
“What happened last year sucked, was tough,” Love said, “and I’m glad that the timeline was what it was, and I was able to be good for Week 1. It’s definitely one of those things you’ve gotta take into consideration going into the preseason and everything. I know me and Matt (LaFleur) have talked, and I think the plan is to play some limited role this week and see how it goes.”
Earlier this week LaFleur said NFL data shows that players who take part in at least one joint practice and then play at least 30 snaps in the preseason are three times less likely to get injured in the regular season than players who don’t meet those thresholds.
Of course, if the quarterback is injured it can be especially costly, especially if the injury sidelines him for weeks or diminishes him physically. In 1999, Brett Favre broke the thumb of his throwing hand on a pass rusher’s helmet while following through on a throw. He didn’t miss any games or have surgery during the season, but the thumb was an issue all year.
Love said he’d ideally play only one series against Pittsburgh. Regardless, it will be incumbent on him to avoid taking a hit at all costs.
“If you get into a scramble situation, definitely not take any hits outside the pocket, anything like that,” Love said. “Really, it’s just about being smart, trying to get the ball out of your hands, trying to get some completions and put together a good drive.”
Love, who’s in his fourth season as a starter, said he wants to play at least a little in the preseason.
“I think it’s always good,” he said. “It gets you in the right mindset, just get you back in that real-game feel. Obviously we’ve been going against each other in practice, to be able to see new looks, a new defense, different guys out there, I think it’s all good stuff that gets you in the right mindset.”
Packers’ defense rises in red zone
The highlight of the Packers’ short (1 hour, 32 minutes), nonpadded practice Aug. 11 was a third-down, red-zone period in which their defense dominated.
The starters ran six plays against each other, with the third-and-goals ranging from 12 to 2 yards, and the defense allowed only one touchdown. The backups had six plays also, and the No. 2 defense also allowed only one touchdown.
On Love’s first set of three tries, he scrambled and was chased out of bounds by nickel back Kitan Oladapo well before the goal line. On the next play, Love had to throw the ball away over Matthew Golden’s head because Keisean Nixon had blanketed the receiver at the back of the end zone. And on the next play, third-and-goal from the 3, Love hit Golden on a quick out for the lone touchdown against rookie cornerback Brandon Cisse.
Later on another three-play set, Love held the ball a long time and then hit Skyy Moore in the back of the end zone, but safety Evan Williams pushed Moore out before he could get his second foot down on the leaping catch. On third-and-goal from the 6, Love over-led tight end Josh Whyle on an out route well short of the end zone for an incompletion; and on third-and-goal from the 2, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper batted down Love’s pass to tight end Drake Dabney at the back of the end zone.
“I thought we had a great day in the red zone,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “I thought we were technically sound, the scheme was – we executed well and we got off the field. We might have won every rep.
“… I think we had a good day in the red zone. I thought it was clean, I thought everybody communicated well, and that’s what we’re gonna need in the season.”
Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper made back-to-back plays for the No. 2 defense. On third-and-goal from 12 he was there to tackle running back Pierre Strong on a checkdown at about the 5. The next play Hopper stripped the ball from Jaden Nixon after the running back caught a screen pass and outside linebacker Arron Mosby recovered.
Injury update
PUP (physically unable to perform): Edge Micah Parsons (knee), LS Matt Orzech (calf), TE Luke Musgrave (neck), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles).
DNP (did not practice): CB Javon Bullard (foot), RB Josh Jacobs (groin), CB Domani Jackson (core), OLB Dani Dennis-Sutton (illness).
Returned: Golden (toe), WR Jayden Reed (ankle), CB Carrington Valentine (hamstring), Whyle (neck).
Tidbits
∎ The Packers signed two defensive backs and waived two players to make room on the roster.
Signed were safety Trey Dean III and safety Tra Fluellen. Both had tryouts with the Packers earlier in the week.
They waived TE Drew Biber and OL Karsen Barnhart.
∎ Williams had the defensive play of the day when he intercepted a deep ball from Kyron Drones to Kisean Johnson. The ball was a little underthrown, and Williams showed the ability to turn and track the ball, and then made the strong, leaping catch in front of Johnson.
∎ Cornerback Carrington Valentine (hamstring) returned to practice after sitting out a week. He took part only in individual drills.
∎ Trey Smack was 4-for-5 on field goal attempts. His miss was on a 46-yarder. His makes were an extra point and from 41, 46 and 45 yards. He’s now 19-for-27 in camp.
Quote of the day
Love, on LaFleur telling NFL Network that Love is the best quarterback at presnap reads that he’s ever worked with: “That’s probably the biggest jump I’ve made since being here. In college we didn’t do anything, we didn’t handle protections, we threw hot if we got pressure. We didn’t make any changes at the line of scrimmage. Getting to the NFL, that was the biggest test for me, the biggest area where I hadn’t done stuff like that.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers QB Jordan Love looking to avoid preseason injury | Camp insider
Reporting by Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Packers News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
