Jordan Love could play in preseason
opener, and other notes from Packers' practice
[August 08, 2025]
By STEVE MEGARGEE
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.
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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.”
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