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Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff WriterSep 20, 2024, 04:14 PM ET
- Rob Demovsky is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Green Bay Packers. He has covered the Packers since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2013. Demovsky is a two-time Wisconsin Sportswriter of the Year as selected by the NSSA. You can follow him on Twitter at @RobDemovsky.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the second straight Friday, the Green Bay Packers listed Jordan Love as questionable on their injury report.
Don’t expect the same Saturday downgrade to doubtful as last week’s.
After not practicing at all last week, Love took part in all three practices this week — Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, albeit in limited fashion — and coach Matt LaFleur said they will take it right up until inactives are due 90 minutes before Sunday’s kickoff at the Tennessee Titans if necessary.
When asked after Friday’s practice whether Love had been medically cleared to play, LaFleur said: “We’re working through that.”
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While that’s the first step in a return to game action for the first time since Love sprained the MCL in his left knee late in the Sept. 6 season opener against the Eagles, it’s not only the only factor.
“I think there’s definitely a lot that’s up to him,” LaFleur said. “You don’t want to put somebody in that position, but certainly he’s doing everything in his power. He wants to be out there more than anybody. But we’ll work through it. We’ll give it up to game time and we’ll see where we’re at.”
It’s possible that LaFleur already knows whether Love will play on Sunday or Malik Willis will make his second straight start, because when asked what else he needs to see in order to determine whether Love will play, LaFleur said: “There’s nothing more to see, right? We put it all, everything out there.”
“Yeah there’s definitely a lot of it that is mental and just trying to make sure your mind’s right for when you do get back and do get back on the field, just making sure that there’s no, I’d say, fear of reinjuring or anything like that,” Love said on Wednesday during his first media session since the injury.
“I mean I do a good job just trying to make sure that I’m confident, confident in the rehab and everything I’m doing in there and the trainers and listening to them and just taking it day-by-day. But there’s definitely a component that is very mental, just making sure your mind’s ready to get back and at the same time, it’s tough not getting reps at practice to a little bit of time off of just kinda gets you out of that rhythm of that groove that you’re in, so all those things are important but the mental aspect is huge.”
If Love plays on Sunday against the Titans — or even if he doesn’t play until Week 4 against the Vikings — his return would beat the initial timelines reported shortly after the injury in the final seconds of the loss to the Eagles.
“He has to feel right physically in order to play,” Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements said this week. “In the NFL, usually after the first, second game, from that point on, a lot of guys have things they have to take care of in order to get ready to play at a high level that week. It’s a physical game; everyone has to do what they feel they need to do to get ready to be able to perform. That’s a weekly type of situation for everybody.”
Willis started last week’s 16-10 win over the Colts, but the Packers used a run-heavy game plan that had Willis complete just 12 of 14 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown pass.
