Packers safety Darnell Savage eager to get bad taste of last year out of his mouth

Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage is ready to turn the page on the 2022 season, in which he lost his starting job in late November.

Speaking with the media during mandatory minicamp, the 2019 first-round pick said he can’t wait to get the “bad taste” out of his mouth from last season.

“I’m excited. I’m ready to go – like, right now,” Savage said, via Mike Spofford of Packers.com. “Anxious. Had a long offseason to kind of think about last year, had this kind of bad taste in my mouth for the longest time, so I’m ready to get it out.”

Savage, 25, suited up in 16 games (13 starts) this past season. He recorded 58 tackles (43 solo), five passes defended and one interception. Much of the aggressiveness which made him one of the best safeties during his time at Maryland evaporated in his fourth season in the NFL.

Savage admitted he needs to get back to “letting loose” on the football field.

“Just going out there and letting loose,” Savage said. “I feel like sometimes I’m a little too smart and I overthink things. I’m just a cerebral guy. That’s just how I am. I think for me, it’s not like I haven’t made plays in this league before. There’s been stretches where I felt exactly how I felt at Maryland, if not better. So I know it’s there.”

Dan Orlovsky believes Packers are still a contender following Aaron Rodgers’ exit

ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky is quite bullish on the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers heading into 2023.

Appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” last Friday, Orlovsky expressed optimism for the Packers and new starting quarterback Jordan Love, saying he believes Green Bay is still a “playoff football team.”

“I still think they’re a playoff football team,” Orlovsky said, via Abhimanyu Chaudhary of Sportskeeda. “I feel like this is a team that’s gone to the NFC title game two out of the last four years. Their defense is littered with talent… What if Jordan Love is good? We don’t really know, but he was a first-round pick three years ago. Like this guy wasn’t a he wasn’t a sixth-round pick that they’re just like tanking with.

“That scheme always gets quarterbacks to play better than their maybe their talent level should kind of afford them too. I think it’s one of the great unknowns, if Love is good, the Packers are absolute players in the NFC.”

Without Rodgers at the helm for the first time since 2008, most oddsmakers project the Packers to miss out on the postseason for the second consecutive season. Per the latest odds from FanDuel, Green Bay’s over/under is set at 7.5. In order to advance to the postseason, the Packers will likely need to out-due their projections by at least 3 wins. For that to come to fruition, they’ll need Love to play at a franchise quarterback-like level.