GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Packers coach Matt LaFleur says he will try to play all four of his quarterbacks Saturday, an indication that Jordan Love could make at least a cameo appearance in Green Bay’s preseason opener against the New York Jets.
“We’ll do our best to give them all meaningful reps,” LaFleur said Thursday. “Certainly some of those guys, they’re going to play longer than others.”
Green Bay’s other quarterbacks in camp are Malik Willis, Sean Clifford and Taylor Elgersma.
Love said Wednesday he would like to get at least a little bit of preseason playing time.
He threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks in the first series of last year’s preseason opener and didn’t play again until the start of the regular season.
“I think it’s always nice to get a couple preseason snaps just to put yourself back in that game mode mentality,” Love said.
If Love’s going to play at all in the preseason, Saturday would be an ideal time since the Packers’ other two exhibition games are preceded by joint practices.
LaFleur went into detail on why he would like his starters to get at least a taste of playing time in the exhibition games. While appearing in preseason games offers the threat of injury, LaFleur cited data he has seen indicating it actually could reduce that risk in the long run.
“They’ll tell you, according to our medical people and our performance people, if you get X amount of reps, you’re whatever however many times less likely to get injured within the first four-to-five weeks of the regular season,” LaFleur said.
This represents a change from the approach LaFleur took earlier in his tenure.
Green Bay’s top starters sat out all the Packers’ preseason games in 2021 and 2022. The Packers opened the regular season with lopsided losses to the New Orleans Saints in 2021 and Minnesota Vikings in 2022.
“I would say of getting ready to compete and go play a collision sport — You’ve got to get your mind right," LaFleur said. "What’s beautiful about our preseason schedule, you’ve got a night kickoff, you’ve got an early kickoff and then you have that late afternoon kickoff. So it kind of gets the guys a little bit prepped for what they’re going to encounter early on in the season.”
NOTES: All-Pro safety Xavier McKinney didn’t practice Thursday due to a calf injury. McKinney said Thursday he doesn’t expect to play any preseason games but vowed to be ready for the start of the season. “I’ll be ready when it’s time to go, for sure,” McKinney said. … Bo Melton, who played wide receiver for the Packers from 2023-24, has been working primarily at cornerback in training camp. The experiment has worked so well that Melton even got some first-team reps on defense Thursday while Nate Hobbs was unavailable because of knee surgery recovery and Keisean Nixon also was held out of team drills. Melton said he’s looking forward to testing himself in a game situation. “Definitely going to be one for the books, for the first time going out there at corner,” Melton said. “Definitely confident. I’m ready to go.”
Steve Megargee, The Associated Press
