‘Logical’ Love Timeline? Week 4 Against Vikings

While coach Matt LaFleur said Jordan Love is “going to do everything he can to be out there and will give him the week,” everybody expects Malik Willis will start on Sunday against the Colts.

Packers QB Jordan Love is wrapped up by Josh Sweat on the seismic final play of the loss to the Eagles. Malik Willis is expected to start on Sunday against the Colts. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – While Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is publicly keeping the door “pretty open” for Jordan Love to play against the Indianapolis Colts, the reality is Malik Willis almost certainly will be the quarterback on Sunday.

And not just this Sunday.

“Probably the next several weeks,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on Thursday’s edition of The Insiders.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter also didn’t think Love would play against the Colts, but he offered a more optimistic outlook than Rapoport.

“I think it’s going to be less (than a projected four to six weeks). I think it’s going to be closer to three or four weeks,” Schefter said on The Pat McAfee Show. “It depends on how long it’s going to take him (and) they’ll see how he recovers, but the worst case was averted. It could’ve been bad.”

“He’s going to push to come back. If you look at the schedule, in three to four weeks they play the Vikings at home. Again, we’ll see how he recovers, but that would be, I think, a logical timeline and a logical spot for him to try and come back.”

The Packers could have placed Love on injured reserve following the sprained MCL suffered against the Eagles in Brazil on Sept. 6. That would have required Love to miss four weeks of practices and games. That they did not would seem to indicate the Packers believe Love should be back in a relatively short amount of time.

Remember, three weeks from Friday would be Sept. 27. The Packers’ Week 4 home game against the Vikings will be played on Sunday, Sept. 29.

Love did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday. LaFleur said Love could play without practicing.

“He’s going to do everything he can to be out there and will give him the week,” LaFleur said after Thursday’s practice.

“He’s been out there at practice,” LaFleur added. “He’s been engaged, knows every play call, is always coaching up Malik, coaching up Sean (Clifford) and is doing a good job with it.”

If LaFleur’s goal is to keep the Colts guessing, it’s not working. They are getting ready for Willis, whom the Packers acquired in a trade with the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 26.

“We’re studying Malik and getting prepared for him (and) the style when he did play,” Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley told reporters in Indianapolis this week. “It’s tough, right? Like, you don’t know exactly (how) they (are) going to utilize him. Some of the skill-set that he had from college? Are they going to have him be the quarterback and then say, ‘Hey, this is our system. Let’s go operate it, but we may throw a few wrinkles or two in there.’

“So, I think we’re looking at him now, just the style of play, the athleticism that he has and the styles of throw that he makes and what he’s good at. Then we’re getting back to really the scheme that Green Bay is running.”

If it’s tough on the Colts, it’s really tough on the Packers. Coming off a season-opening loss and trying to avoid a dreaded 0-2 start, the Packers are turning to a quarterback who hasn’t started a game since 2022 and will have been in Green Bay for 18 days at kickoff.

While Willis has career marks of zero touchdowns and three interceptions, he had a strong preseason with Tennessee before the trade.

“That’s the biggest thing is you’re at a different place and you have a different scheme and everything like that,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said on Thursday. “So just trying to learn the verbiage, learn the terminology, so that you can communicate to the guys in the huddle what’s going on.

“But he’s doing a really good job of it. Not perfect by any means but every day he’s getting better and he’s working really hard at it.”

Willis at least has some background in LaFleur’s offense, and he’ll only need to learn the game plan and not the full playbook.

“At the end of the day, the reality is I just got here, so it’s going to be a little bit in overdrive, not as a normal week as if I’ve been here the whole time,” he said on Wednesday. “We’re definitely going to be taking it day by day and just doing what we can each day to prepare ourselves for Sunday.”

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