The play can be a part of Jordan Love‘s spotlight reel ceaselessly — a 53-yard bomb the Green Bay Packers quarterback threw to Christian Watson on the primary offensive play of final yr’s Thanksgiving Day sport on the way in which to an upset of the Detroit Lions.
The story behind that play may ultimately fade away, however not for Mike Sanford, Love’s offensive coordinator and place coach throughout his ultimate faculty season at Utah State in 2019.
When Sanford read that LaFleur texted Love on the morning of the sport to say he had modified his thoughts and needed to open with a safer play — solely to have Love persuade his coach to keep it up — Sanford knew it was a giant second for the Packers’ first-year beginning quarterback.
“He caught his neck out,” Sanford stated.
And that advised him Love had reached a vital level for any quarterback who hoped to grow to be a star.
“He’s by no means going to be like, ‘No we’ve got to do this,'” Sanford stated. “But he’ll be like, ‘No, I like that, we should always keep it up.’ I had those self same interactions with him earlier than video games once we had been placing collectively the openers.”
STARTING WITH A DEEP BALL!@jordan3love to @ChristianW2017 💪#GBvsDET | #GoPackGo
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/BArevnhjYs
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) November 23, 2023
From that time on, LaFleur knew what he had in Love: a quarterback who studied the sport to the purpose that if Love had been going to push again, he would offer sound reasoning to help his case.
If that wasn’t the second that advised everybody Love may very well be one of many sport’s elite quarterbacks, it a minimum of served as a powerful suggestion he may quickly be part of that fraternity.
“I feel he simply felt assured within the play,” LaFleur recalled throughout an interview with ESPN. “Whether I did or not, he is the one pulling the set off, so if he feels assured in it, then I’m going to let it trip.”
Fifty-three weeks later, with the Packers (9-3) making their return to Ford Field for the primary time since that Thanksgiving sport to face the first-place Lions (11-1) on Thursday evening (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), Love has not given LaFleur motive to suppose in another way.
“Oh my gosh, he is the perfect,” LaFleur stated. “I feel he is actually coachable.”
LAFLEUR’S TRUST IN Love was 3 1/2 years within the making — the primary three wherein Love labored as Aaron Rodgers‘ backup after being the No. 26 decide of the 2020 draft.
In conferences, Love listened as intently as any backup LaFleur has been round, even when it could not be till Love’s fourth NFL season that he acquired the possibility to place his studying to work (save for one begin in 2021 when Rodgers got here down with COVID and needed to miss a sport at Kansas City).
As LaFleur has stated many occasions since, he erred in that 13-7 loss to the Chiefs by making an attempt to make use of the identical sport plan that they had devised for Rodgers. The Chiefs countered by blitzing the shoulder pads off Love. Love accomplished 6 of 17 move makes an attempt for 30 yards when the Chiefs blitzed, which they did on practically half of Love’s 35 dropbacks.
Two years later, when Love acquired one other crack on the Chiefs — the week following that 2023 Thanksgiving sport in opposition to the Lions — he shredded Kansas City’s blitzes. He accomplished 10 of 13 passes for 3 touchdowns when confronted with 5 or extra move rushers within the 27-19 win over the eventual Super Bowl champs.
Since changing into the full-time starter, Love has accomplished 62% of his passes in opposition to blitzes with 17 touchdowns (tied for sixth most within the NFL in opposition to the blitz for the reason that begin of the 2023 season) and 6 interceptions, based on ESPN Research.
It served as a lesson for LaFleur and Love, although it did not come into play till 2023, when Love took over after Rodgers was traded to the Jets.
“He’s grow to be among the best that I’ve been round at dealing with all of the safety stuff that we placed on him,” LaFleur stated. “It’s fairly exceptional, particularly when you think about the place he is come from to the place he is at now.
“His thoughts,” LaFleur added as he snapped his fingers 3 times, “he can recall issues, and he sees it in a short time on the sphere. Very not often will he ever make a mistake in safety.”
No one is aware of that higher than heart Josh Myers.
“He was doing stuff not typical of a first-year beginning quarterback final yr,” Myers stated. “He was making safety calls, altering protections on the line of scrimmage, in ways in which a first-year starter simply does not do.”
EVERY QUARTERBACK HAS his personal start line when he begins to arrange for a sport. For Love, it typically begins with a have a look at performs different groups across the league have used.
In per week with a Sunday sport adopted by one other Sunday sport, Love does that on Tuesday, when gamers are normally off whereas the coaches huddle in game-planning conferences.
It shouldn’t be a time off for Love.
“I’m normally by myself whereas the coaches are sport planning,” Love advised ESPN. “I make a notes web page of performs I see different groups operating that look good.”
Love will then ship these performs to LaFleur and his employees. Just what number of of Love’s prompt performs make the sport plan every week?
“Sometimes they make it,” Love stated. “Sometimes they do not.”
The greatest current instance of 1 that did was a 25-yard move to Watson within the Week 11 win at Chicago. While LaFleur revealed after the sport that the play was born out of a suggestion from Robert Saleh, who started consulting for the Packers after he was fired as head coach by the Jets earlier this season, Love had a hand within the planning as nicely.
“Jordan texted that play and stated, ‘I feel Christian’s matchup on a linebacker goes to be nice, we have to make the most of this,'” Packers passing sport coordinator Jason Vrable stated.
That has occurred extra continuously this season, Vrable stated.
“Maybe Year 1, he is simply making an attempt to do his job,” Vrable stated. “Year 2, proper now, I feel that communication, that development once we’re speaking about third downs or what we like, Jordan’s like, ‘I like that, however I like that yet one more.’ As against Year 1, numerous guys … simply wish to please individuals, versus [saying] what you really really feel.”
If Love has grow to be extra assertive, because it labored in his favor final season in opposition to the Lions, he is performed it respectfully. To date, there have been no refined pictures about playcalling or sport plans that have not labored out. And not often, if ever, does anybody see him get annoyed with one other participant throughout a sport.
In reality, Myers, who’s one in every of Love’s closest buddies on the staff, couldn’t consider a time when Love chewed out a teammate.
Not even behind closed doorways.
“I really have not,” Myers stated.
In that regard, Love has differed from Rodgers.
“Yeah, nicely, give him, what, 14 extra years,” joked Myers, who performed with Rodgers for 2 seasons, “and we’ll see.”
When advised of Myers’ remark, Love let loose a hearty chuckle.
“I feel that is true,” Love stated. “I used to be right here with Aaron, however I wasn’t right here with him when he first began, however he most likely wasn’t the identical participant or did not react the identical. I feel numerous it’s, whenever you’ve been enjoying for thus lengthy, you demand greatness and wish individuals to be locked in if they are not.”
THERE’S REASON TO suppose Love may by no means change.
In reality, Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander stated he has advised Love he needs to be more durable on his teammates.
“I attempt to get him to get a few of that ‘ARRRRRRRGH,'” Alexander stated with a scowl on his face. “I attempt to inform him when these receivers drop the ball, get on their ass.”
That, based on Sanford, could be out of character for Love.
“My favourite trait in any chief, significantly on the quarterback place, is authenticity,” Sanford stated. “Jordan is authentically an actual dude. Here’s what I see: I see the Packers have a large fan base, and when there are issues improper, they only wish to see their quarterback go rip Romeo Doubs‘ ass for dropping a ball that led to a decide.
“That’s not who Jordan is. Jordan may have the dialog, however he isn’t going to exit of his solution to make individuals suppose, ‘I’m actually a troublesome chief and I can have the laborious dialog.’ And there’s a lot of that in soccer. There’s a lot faux stuff.”
That does not imply Love avoids confrontation.
“He’s a competitor, and when anyone is making a mistake when he is aware of they’re able to extra, I’m certain, in his personal means, he’ll say one thing,” LaFleur stated.
THE GENESIS OF Love’s ascent to quarterback stardom could be debated. Some may not suppose he is there but, although he’s tied for the second-largest NFL contract, due to the four-year, $220 million contract extension he signed in July.
But to those that suppose he’s among the many elite, the epiphany could have are available that 29-22 victory at Detroit on Thanksgiving Day 2023.
If the earlier week’s win over the Chargers — a 322-yard, two touchdown game that included a 24-yard scoring move to Doubs with 2:33 to play — was the second issues modified for Love, then the win over the Lions strengthened it.
It was a part of his 18-touchdown, one-interception regular-season end that satisfied the Packers he was their franchise quarterback going ahead.
“That was a giant one,” Myers stated. “I feel that was proper across the begin the place [the Packers] had been actually beginning to take off. I feel that launched us in the best path and we have type of been enjoying some good soccer since, for essentially the most half. Big second. Cool second.”
