GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second straight Friday, the Inexperienced Bay Packers listed Jordan Love as questionable on their harm report.
Do not count on the identical Saturday downgrade to uncertain as final week’s.
After not training in any respect final week, Love took half in all three practices this week — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, albeit in restricted trend — and coach Matt LaFleur mentioned they are going to take it proper up till inactives are due 90 minutes earlier than Sunday’s kickoff on the Tennessee Titans if crucial.
When requested after Friday’s follow whether or not Love had been medically cleared to play, LaFleur mentioned: “We’re working by way of that.”
Whereas that is step one in a return to sport motion for the primary time since Love sprained the MCL in his left knee late within the Sept. 6 season opener towards the Eagles, it is not solely the one issue.
“I believe there’s positively lots that is as much as him,” LaFleur mentioned. “You do not need to put any individual in that place, however actually he is doing all the things in his energy. He needs to be on the market greater than anyone. However we’ll work by way of it. We’ll give it as much as sport time and we’ll see the place we’re at.”
It is attainable that LaFleur already is aware of whether or not Love will play on Sunday or Malik Willis will make his second straight begin, as a result of when requested what else he must see as a way to decide whether or not Love will play, LaFleur mentioned: “There’s nothing extra to see, proper? We put all of it, all the things on the market.”
“Yeah there’s positively plenty of it that’s psychological and simply attempting to verify your thoughts’s proper for whenever you do get again and do get again on the sector, simply ensuring that there is no, I might say, worry of reinjuring or something like that,” Love mentioned on Wednesday throughout his first media session because the harm.
“I imply I do a very good job simply attempting to be sure that I am assured, assured within the rehab and all the things I am doing in there and the trainers and listening to them and simply taking it day-by-day. However there’s positively a element that may be very psychological, simply ensuring your thoughts’s able to get again and on the identical time, it is robust not getting reps at follow to a bit little bit of day off of simply kinda will get you out of that rhythm of that groove that you simply’re in, so all these issues are vital however the psychological side is large.”
If Love performs on Sunday towards the Titans — or even when he does not play till Week 4 towards the Vikings — his return would beat the preliminary timelines reported shortly after the harm within the last seconds of the loss to the Eagles.
“He has to really feel proper bodily as a way to play,” Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements mentioned this week. “Within the NFL, often after the primary, second sport, from that time on, plenty of guys have issues they need to handle as a way to get able to play at a excessive stage that week. It is a bodily sport; everybody has to do what they really feel they should do to prepare to have the ability to carry out. That is a weekly kind of scenario for everyone.”
Willis began final week’s 16-10 win over the Colts, however the Packers used a run-heavy sport plan that had Willis full simply 12 of 14 passes for 122 yards and a landing cross.
