With Love Injured, Packers Will Work Out QBs on Tuesday

Otherwise, the team might only have Kurt Benkert available for Saturday's preseason game against the New York Jets.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love is feeling better after suffering an injured throwing shoulder during Saturday’s preseason game, but he will not practice on Monday. With his availability for the upcoming preseason game against the New York Jets in doubt, the Packers will work out some quarterbacks on Tuesday, coach Matt LaFleur said.

The injury occurred late in the first half of the 26-7 loss to the Houston Texans. Love’s arm was cocked and ready to go when the ball was knocked loose from behind.

“It just kind of feels like a little strain-ish,” Love said after the game. Tests on Sunday didn’t show anything of concern but the team is going to play it safe, even though Love needs reps after not having a preseason as a rookie.

The Packers will have Aaron Rodgers and Kurt Benkert on the practice field on Monday. After an off-day Tuesday, the team will conduct joint practices with the New York Jets on Wednesday and Thursday before hosting the Jets in the second preseason game on Saturday.

"He is feeling a lot better, but we’re going to be smart by him, too," LaFleur said.

While the injury is a setback for Love, the additional practice reps – and the potential of starting Saturday’s game – should be a big boost for Benkert, who has watched Rodgers and Love take the overwhelming majority of the snaps during the first dozen days of training camp.

Playing the entire second half vs. the Texans, Benkert completed 8-of-12 passes for 88 yards but also had a hand in two turnovers.

“I thought Kurt did a nice job,” quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy said on Sunday. “The limited number of reps he gets on a daily (basis), I thought he handled going in there in the second half and having a big menu in front of him, I thought he handled it pretty well. His pocket presence wasn’t the greatest as that game went on, kind of got himself hit a little bit. So, we’ve got to clean that stuff up, but I thought he did a nice job.”

Love went 6-for-6 for 89 yards and one touchdown on the only scoring drive of the night. When protected, he played well.


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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.