Under Pressure, Love Delivers
GREEN BAY, Wis. – There are two kinds of pressure confronting Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love.
One is the mental pressure. The supposed heir apparent to Aaron Rodgers when he was drafted in the first round in 2020, there’s the pressure of replacing a legend or, if Rodgers sticks around past his 40th birthday, showing enough to become a starting quarterback for his next team.
The other is the physical pressure. It’s the nerve to stick in the pocket, despite a bunch of angry men in the wrong-colored jerseys trying to knock you onto your butt, and delivering a big completion.
Without question, No. 2 will help make No. 1 possible. After struggling when pressured last season, Love’s performance was one of the most noteworthy developments from Tuesday’s practice.
On his first pass of the day, with a defender in his face, Love uncorked a marvelous deep ball to Sammy Watkins for a big gain. Later, with the pocket collapsing, Love threw a perfect long ball up the right sideline to Romeo Doubs but was denied by cornerback Kiondre Thomas. On his third-to-last pass of the day, with two defenders in his face, Love threw a touchdown pass to Doubs in the corner of the end zone. Doubs was covered tightly by Rico Gafford, and there wasn’t much real estate as the back pylon loomed, but Love threw a ball so perfect that he scarcely could have placed it better had he run forward and handed the ball to the standout rookie.
“That’s as game-like as you can get right there,” Love said at his locker. “In a game, they’re going to be coming for you and aren’t going to let up. It’s tough in practice because you’re not expecting it but, at the same time, you’ve just got to be able to find that calm to be able to see where the receiver is at and being able to make that throw with pressure in your face.”
Making quality passes under pressure is the hallmark of a great quarterback. Just about any of the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks and many of its backups can deliver a tight-window throw from the comfort of a clean pocket. Doing it with a defender in your face or closing hard from the blind side is a much bigger challenge.
Love was miserable in that regard during his limited snaps last season. With Aaron Rodgers out with COVID for the game at Kansas City, the Chiefs blitzed, blitzed again and blitzed some more. “They were eating us up and we just weren’t able to execute,” Love said after a 13-7 loss.
Getting six-plus quarters of playing time last season, Love was a woeful 6-of-19 when pressured, according to Pro Football Focus. Of 50 quarterbacks to face pressure on at least 25 dropbacks, Love was 49th in completion rate at 31.6 percent.
Throwing an accurate ball to the right person when pressured is the toughest part of quarterbacking, Love said. And there’s no way to train it other than to jump into the frying pan.
“I feel like practice, these situations when it does happen, those are the times you feel it,” Love said. “But, in a game, it’s just something that you’ve got to just trust yourself, trust that your receiver is going to get there and make the play for you at the same time.”
Love was under pressure throughout Tuesday’s practice. He wasn’t always perfect but he wasn’t close to making any mistakes, either. The connections with Watkins early and Doubs late are the kind of passes made by quality NFL starters. Now, he’s got to do it again on the practice field, during the joint practices with the Saints and in the three preseason games.
“I think it does show growth, just to be able to trust that I know where the receiver’s going to be with pressure in my face and still be able to try and slow it down a little bit to focus on where I need to put the ball,” Love said.
“When you first get here, I wasn’t able to make those throws under pressure. Plays like that, I’d just try to escape and maybe throw the ball away. But just being able to trust where the receiver’s going to be and know, it comes down to that.”
Packers Rookies Progress Report Card
Round 1: No. 22 – Quay Walker, ILB, Georgia
Round 1: No. 28 – Devonte Wyatt, DT, Georgia
Round 2: No. 34 – Christian Watson, WR, North Dakota State
Round 3: No. 92 – Sean Rhyan, G/T, UCLA
Round 4: No. 132 – Romeo Doubs, WR, Nevada
Round 4: No. 140 – Zach Tom, OL, Wake Forest
Round 5: No. 179 – Kingsley Enagbare, LB, South Carolina
Round 7: No. 228 – Tariq Carpenter, S/LB, Georgia Tech
Round 7: No. 234 – Jonathan Ford, DT, Miami
Round 7: No. 249 – Rasheed Walker, OT, Penn State
Round 7: No. 258 – Samori Toure, WR, Nebraska
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