What LaFleur’s Backup History Says About Willis vs. Colts

Including Sunday vs. the Colts, Jordan Love could miss at least a couple games with a knee injury. It’s a situation Packers coach Matt LaFleur was in once before.

Matt LaFleur stands with Blaine Gabbert when LaFleur was Titans offensive coordinator in 2018. LaFleur is expected to start Malik Willis for the Packers against the Colts on Sunday. / Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With quarterback Jordan Love sidelined by a knee injury, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur is going into practically uncharted territory for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts.

In his first five seasons as Packers coach, his starting quarterbacks started all but one game. After starting every game in 2019, Aaron Rodgers missed one game due to COVID in 2020. Rodgers started every game in 2021 and played through injured ribs and a broken thumb to start every game in 2022.

Jordan Love started every game for the Packers in his debut season of 2023.

While LaFleur wouldn’t rule out Love for Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, he’s expected to miss at least a couple games. If Love doesn’t play, Malik Willis will start on Sunday.

It wasn’t in Green Bay, but LaFleur does have a little experience with his starting quarterback missing a chunk of time.

In 2018, LaFleur’s one and only season as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, starting quarterback Marcus Mariota was knocked out of games in Week 1 and Week 16, with Blaine Gabbert starting in Weeks 2 and 3 and again in Week 17. He also received extensive playing time in Week 11.

“You’ve got to try to figure out what can put your team in the best possible position, what he feels most comfortable with and get him the reps throughout the course of the week,” LaFleur said on Monday.

The Titans went 2-1 in Gabbert’s three starts, though he threw only three passes before an injury summoned Mariota off the bench in one of those games. In five games in which Gabbert threw at least 10 passes, the Titans went 2-3 and Gabbert never got close to 200 passing yards.

Here are those games:

Week 1: 27-20 loss vs. Dolphins – 11-of-22, 117 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception, 47.0 rating.

Week 2: 20-17 win vs. Houston (start) – 13-of-20, 117 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions, 97.2 rating.

Week 3: 9-6 win vs. Jacksonville (start) – 1-of-3, 8 yards, zero touchdowns, zero interceptions, 42.4 rating.

Week 10: 38-10 loss vs. Indianapolis – 11-of-16, 118 yards, one touchdown, one interception, 84.9 rating.

Week 16: 25-16 win vs. Commanders – 7-of-11, 101 yards, one touchdown, zero interceptions, 123.7 rating.

Week 17: 33-17 loss vs. Colts (start) – 18-of-29, 165 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, 60.3 rating.

In 2018, Gabbert was in his eighth season in the NFL. The 10th pick of the 2011 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Gabbert had 40 starts under his belt by the time he arrived in Tennessee.

Willis is in his third season in the NFL. A third-round pick in the 2022 draft by the Titans, Willis started three games as a rookie and threw only a handful of passes last season.

Even with an experienced backup, LaFleur called a conservative game. Gabbert ranked third-to-last in the NFL in deep passes, with 7.9 percent of his attempts going 20-plus yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. Meanwhile, he had the sixth-highest percentage of passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage.

Added together, according to Stathead, of 41 quarterbacks who threw at least 100 passes in 2018, Gabbert ranked 34th with 7.1 air yards per attempt and 36th with 10.3 yards per completion.

The Packers acquired Willis from the Titans in a trade barely two weeks ago. Not only does he not have an extensive history in the offense, he doesn’t have an extensive history, period. Gabbert entered the 2018 season having thrown 1,261 passes. Willis enters this week having thrown only 67.

It’s fair to wonder how much of the offense Willis knows like the back of his hand – and how much it will confine LaFleur – but he knew enough to be the No. 2 quarterback last week against Philadelphia. It certainly helped Willis that the offense the Titans ran in 2022 and 2023 had roots from LaFleur’s one season.

“I think he’s put a lot of time and effort into this thing,” LaFleur said. “He’s grinded, he’s learned the terminology and is able to spit out the play calls, and we’ve got confidence in him. I think if he’s given a full week of preparation, a full week of practice, I’ve got confidence he’ll go out there and perform at a high level.”

This week’s practices will have added significance. With 21 starts together, LaFleur knows what Love likes and can tailor his game plan accordingly, which wasn’t the case when Love and the Packers lost at Kansas City in 2020.

With less than 20 days together, it will be a feeling-out process between what LaFleur thinks will work against the Colts and the plays Willis feels comfortable running.

“I think that we’re going to try to play to his strengths and put him in the best position possible and put our team in the best position possible,” LaFleur said.

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For a week, anyway, #Packers running back Josh Jacobs probably enjoyed life playing alongside a quality quarterback.https://t.co/xfyVbTSYrc

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) September 11, 2024

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