Jordan Love is about to enter his first year as the Green Bay Packers starting quarterback. Obviously, following in the footsteps of Aaron Rodgers, Love has big shoes to fill. With that comes massive expectations early on. Head coach Matt LaFleur wants to pump the brakes on those expectations for his youngsters first season as the lead signal caller.
There was a fairly large quote from LaFleur not long ago talking about the Rodgers situation and what this means for Love moving forward. He said, “We’re excited about Jordan and how he’s been able to progress as a quarterback. How he’s matured as a man. It’s going to be a different role for him, certainly. And I think we all have to kind of temper our expectations for him. It’s different when you’re going into a game versus when you’re starting a game. It’s going to be a process, but it’s gonna be exciting for him, for us.”
This isn’t anything out of the ordinary to hear from LaFleur. To be honest, it’s probably the best thing for Love. Green Bay has gotten awfully lucky with quarterbacks in the last few decades. Going from Brett Favre to Rodgers without any transition period. Love has sat for a few years and people will expect results straight away. Especially considering that they had a bad year in 2022 and missed the playoffs. LaFleur coming right out and telling people to take it easy and remain patient with expectations is a good sign of what’s to come.
Jordan Love Needs Help Around Him
LaFleur also said, “I don’t think any quarterback can truly do it on their own in this league. So, it’s going to be everybody rallying around him. And trying to be at the best of their ability so that he can go out there and perform as good as he possibly can.” The roster around Love will be the determining factor of his success early on. Throwing Love into the fire and hoping that he can become the next Patrick Mahomes just isn’t going to work out for anybody. Green Bay has to trust him. They have to help him get adjusted to his new role as the season goes on.
What makes this Green Bay offense even more exciting is that it is a young group for the first time in a while. Green Bay not only lost Rodgers, but they also got rid of Allen Lazard and Robert Tonyan. Love will now be looking for a new tight end to partner up with two second year wideouts in Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.
Plus, we can’t forget about Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon in the backfield. Love has a lot of young talent surrounding him. Along with a head coach that knows what to do on the offensive side of the ball. As long as the expectations remain grounded for this young buck, the sky can truly be the limit for him after learning behind Rodgers for the past few years.