Here Is Biggest Challenge for Willis, Packers

Before the Green Bay Packers can put together a winning game plan to face the Indianapolis Colts, they must figure out new quarterback Malik Willis’ likes and dislikes.

Green Bay Packers QB Malik Willis / Evan Siegle/Courtesy Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love are on Year 5 together. Including two playoff games last year, Love has started 21 games.

By now, LaFleur knows what Love likes.

LaFleur really has no idea what Malik Willis likes, which adds to the challenge of the Green Bay Packers getting ready for Sunday’s home opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

Like all teams, the Packers spent some of their offseason getting ready for their early season games. Of course, that included Love running the show against Gus Bradley’s attacking Colts defense.

Now, with Love’s knee injury leaving his status in doubt, LaFleur and his offensive staff have to adjust to the strengths and weaknesses of a quarterback who by Sunday will have been in Green Bay for 18 days.

“He’s got to communicate to us and let us know where he’s at,” LaFleur said after Wednesday’s practice. “Certainly, we’ll go through it and comb it and probably ‘X’ out some things if he’s not very comfortable with it and star the things that he really likes and that he has more comfortability with.

“It’s not like we’re dealing with a rookie here that has no background. He’s, a lot of these offenses do similar things. It’s just how do you do them? When do you do them? Who are you putting where? So, we take that all into account.”

Willis said his preparation is in “overdrive.” But, as he said, “there’s only so many hours in the day.” There’s no magic formula to make him comfortable with the offense and the footwork and his teammates in such a short span.

“You can’t look at it with that wide view,” Willis said. “You just come in each day. That’s all you can do. You don’t have any control of the future or the past, you don’t have any control of the things you don’t. You just understand the situation and do what you can to control what you control.”

At least a few things will help Willis this week. A third-round pick by the Titans in 2022, Tennessee’s offense still had some of LaFleur’s fingerprints on it from his one year as offensive coordinator in 2018. He started three games during his rookie season, so he’s familiar with the preparation required. With the Titans, he had three offensive coordinators, so this isn’t his first time learning a new offense.

“He’s been awesome. He’s been great,” LaFleur said. “At the end of the day, it’s football. It’s something these guys have been doing a good majority of their life, and I think that’s the approach you’ve got to take.

“You pour everything you’ve got into it from Monday through Saturday and you’ve got to go play and trust the training, trust the preparation, and you’ve got to go play on Sunday.”

The Packers will practice again on Thursday and Friday and hold a walk-through on Saturday. Along with film sessions and meetings, it will be up to Willis and LaFleur to hone in on a formula to beat the Colts and avoid an 0-2 start on Sunday.

It won’t be easy. The Colts finished a respectable 14th in opponent passer rating last year. Their pass rush is powerful, ranking eighth in sack percentage. Four players had at least seven sacks – second-most in the league over the last decade.

“I think there’s a lot of trust both ways in terms of him trusting that we are going to do our best to put him in the best possible position to make sure that we are dialing up the things we think they could potentially do to us from a defensive standpoint and attack those perceived weaknesses or a certain coverage or certain defensive scheme,” LaFleur said.

“And then it comes back, go through the process, go through whatever he does not feel comfortable with will probably ‘X’ out. And things he feels really comfortable with, we’ll make sure we highlight and get dialed up.”

For Willis, the trade to Green Bay presented a fresh start to a career that started with a lot of hype – he was a projected first-round pick in the 2022 draft – but quickly fizzled.

Of course, he didn’t expect to be starting in Week 2. But that’s the situation. His focus is on the preparation and not the moment.

“I haven’t but that sounds super-exciting,” he said when asked if he’s thought about running out of the Lambeau Field tunnel at just a few minutes before noon on Sunday. “I’m trying to take it day by day. It’s just Wednesday. We still have a couple more days of practice and refining on this game plan and try to prepare ourselves for that.”

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