Packers HC Matt LaFleur highlights the fine line Jordan Love must walk to avoid Brett Favre comparisons
Jordan Love has missed two games this season, so he played only five of seven weeks. Even so, he leads the NFL in both touchdown passes and interceptions. After throwing 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, he is on pace to finish the season with 45 TDs and 24 picks. It's a truly wild way of […]
Jordan Love has missed two games this season, so he played only five of seven weeks. Even so, he leads the NFL in both touchdown passes and interceptions. After throwing 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions, he is on pace to finish the season with 45 TDs and 24 picks. It's a truly wild way of playing, and it has brought some comparisons with a legendary Packers quarterback — but not Aaron Rodgers, with whom Love spent three years with, but Brett Favre, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 508 touchdowns and 336 interceptions.
Now, the Packers have a tough task to accomplish. They want Love to be more careful with the ball, but the aggressiveness is an inherent part of his style. Against the Texans, he threw three TDs and two picks.
"It's always a fine line," head coach Matt LaFleur stressed. "Obviously, the quarterback's number one job is to take care of the football. But I also don't think, especially today (on Sunday, against the Texans), we didn't put him in the best positions to throw the football. So, again, we'll take a look at it and evaluate it, and be critical of ourselves, myself more than anybody."
For Jordan Love, it's important to learn with what happened in each play.
"I definitely want to be able to limit those mistakes, the interceptions, just do better taking care of the ball," Love said. "If I clean that up, it'd be a better game. That definitely hurt me, but you gotta bounce back and respond to it. The game is not gonna be perfect, but definitely moving forward I'm gonna be better with the ball."
At the same time, Jordan Love doesn't intend to be less aggressive. He just wants to make sure he does it at the right time and puts the ball in the right place.
"You just gotta play the game," Love added. "You gotta go out there and play, you can't try not to be aggressive, take checkdowns all day. You gotta be out there and be aggressive. I've always played the way I play, learn from the mistakes and grow from it."
For Matt LaFleur, the solution is more related to scheme. As a head coach and offensive playcaller, he wants to put Love in more favorable positions to play at a high level.
"Hopefully, we can put him in better situations, so he's not throwing picks," LaFleur mentioned. "So you talking-heads out there can ease on the Brett Favre comparisons."
Many times, Brett Favre was criticized for his aggressiveness. Aaron Rodgers has been criticized throughout his career for not taking many chances. It's impossible to be perfect, but Jordan Love is trying to improve — and he's young enough to develop into a more efficient version of himself.
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