Matt LaFleur says Jordan Love is making 'significant strides' this offseason
Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur has seen a lot of progress from Jordan Love this offseason. A former first-round pick in 2020, Love is set to take over as the starting quarterback after spending the past three years as a backup to Aaron Rodgers.
The Packers wrapped up their eighth practice of OTAs on Tuesday, giving LaFleur a chance to reflect on how much Love has improved from the first day. Although there is still room for growth, the coach is noted he has seen “significant strides” from the young QB over the past week.
“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.”
Love has not seen much game action in his first three seasons, appearing in just 10 games with one start. That said, he did have the benefit of learning from a four-time MVP in Rodgers, much like Rodgers learned from Brett Favre as he backed up the Hall of Famer in his first three seasons.
Even so, Love still has a lot to learn before he is ready to lead the offense. He still made mistakes on Tuesday, including throwing an interception. But LaFleur would rather have him make those miscues now so that he can be more prepared when the season starts.
“I think it’s a great learning experience,” the coach said. “You’d rather have that happen in practice than in a game. 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.”
All that in mind, Love appears to be on the right track as he prepares to take the reigns of the offense. With a little more than two months before the Packers open the preseason against Cincinnati on Aug. 11, he’ll look to keep making strides.