It’s not the first time Jordan Love has been the primary quarterback during the Packers’ offseason program. But it is the first time he’ll keep that job when mandatory minicamp and training camp roll around.
After Tuesday’s OTA practice, head coach Matt LaFleur was asked about Love potentially needing to tighten up some of his throws. But that question launched LaFleur into a bit more detailed assessment of how he’s seen Love make progress throughout OTAs.
” I’ve seen some pretty good throws throughout the course of my career in this league, namely a guy like Peyton Manning. He was pretty good and his ball wasn’t always the tightest but he did a great job,” LaFleur said in his press conference. “It’s about just being accurate. Throwing on time. Making the right decisions. Putting the ball in the right spot. And so, I’ve been encouraged — especially, I would say over the course of this last week, one of the things that we’ve kind of talked about in that room is just how important — it’s really the process of playing quarterback.
“I’m less concerned about the end result right now. But I do believe that if the process is correct, he is going to be more consistent. So, within that, it’s just the footwork, the clean mechanics, keeping a base in the pocket, being able to throw at any point in time. And I think just the rhythm and the timing, that’s something we’ve really stressed. I think he’s done a good job in particular this week of making some really significant strides.”
There are still times when Love is making mistakes. A reporter referenced a throw from Tuesday’s session when Love was late over the middle, which resulted in an interception. But LaFleur didn’t seem discouraged by that.
“I think it’s a great learning experience. You’d rather have that happen in practice than in a game,” LaFleur said. “Certainly, there’s going to be those moments, but it is for every quarterback. And certainly I think when you talk about the situation — you’re talking about a two-minute, end of game, no timeouts, sometimes you’re a little bit more aggressive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
“I think you just have to go through those experiences and try to learn from them, get better from them — both when they’re good and, obviously, when they’re bad.”
There’s a long way between now and Week One, but Love appears to be taking the necessary steps to set himself up for regular-season success.
