The Green Bay Packers concluded OTAs on Thursday and are now looking forward to training camp which gets underway later next month. The team seems confident at this point in the offseason. That includes quarterback Jordan Love, who seems eager to respond to critics who say he regressed last season. Packers quarterback Jordan Love seems eager to prove his doubters wrong in 2025.
Packers Quarterback Jordan Love Eager to Prove Doubters Wrong: The Critics
Jordan Love took over as the Packers starting quarterback after Aaron Rodgers wore out his welcome after the 2022 season. The Packers traded the future Hall of Famer to the New York Jets in part because they were confident Love was ready to take over the starting role.
Love struggled through the first nine games of the 2023 season. He had to work on his footwork and his ability to read NFL defenses. In addition, he had a very young receiving corps that was also learning on the job and was often running the wrong routes and dropping passes.
In the second half of the season, Love and his young receivers seemed to all make progress at the same time. Love threw 18 touchdown passes and just one interception in the final eight games of the season and led the Packers to a strong finish and a playoff berth.
Many expected Love to pick up in 2024 where he left off in 2023. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury in the final series of the first game of the season and was never fully healthy for the rest of the season.
Love’s statistics were slightly better in 2024 than the previous season, but he did not take a big step forward and make progress from 2023.
Love Responds to the Critics
Thus far, Love has looked sharp at OTAs this spring. Obviously, this is not full contact football, so anything has to be taken with a grain of salt, but Love has thrown the ball well. Most notable was a long bomb to wide receiver Mecole Hardman that ended Wednesday’s practice with a score.
“It was a great throw. Hit the guy right in stride,” head coach Matt LaFleur said.
Love addressed his critics when he spoke to reporters at OTAs. “What is a step back, is what I’d ask,” Love said. “Everybody has different opinions, things like that. You’ve got to block that stuff out. It’s all about the goals of the team. At the end of the day, I’d say we won more games than we did the year before.”
Of course, the Packers won a playoff game after the 2023 season while they lost their first playoff game last season. That was likely part of the reason for the feelings of regression, that people had higher expectations for both Love as a quarterback and for the team and they did not make progress in that regard.
Packers Quarterback Jordan Love Eager to Prove Doubters Wrong: Looking Ahead
Love is healthy again and eager to get the 2025 campaign started. He has already spoken enthusiastically about first round pick Matthew Golden.
He also believes that tight end Tucker Kraft can be a bigger part of the passing game this season after he made progress in his second season in 2024.
“Get him as many touches as possible each week,” Love said at OTAs. “I think that’s the fine line as coaches get into game planning and things like that is we’ve got to definitely find ways to keep stretching him down the field. Because he catches the ball really well. He made a couple big-time plays down the field last year, but a big part of our offense is having tight ends in different protection roles. So, we’ll mix it up, get some other guys out there maybe do some protection stuff, let him go run some routes down the field.”
If Love can further improve his footwork and improve his downfield accuracy a bit more, he can take his game to the next level. He is currently ranked around 12th among NFL quarterbacks according to most preseason polls. With a strong 2025, he can move up to the top 10 or even the top five. To get there, he has to take a noticeable step forward in his third year as a starter.
