Some of Jordan Love’s throws show that he's got his feet back under him after injured start for Packers
GREEN BAY – Jordan Love is throwing dimes again, but he’s not sure he’ll take an excessive amount of chances because of it.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback completed three perfectly placed passes against the Detroit Lions last Thursday, totaling a combined 100 yards and sparking drives resulting in three touchdowns in the team’s 34-31 loss at Ford Field.
Two of the passes, a 12-yard touchdown to tight end Tucker Kraft and a 29-yard sideline catch to receiver Christian Watson, were completed despite defenders within inches of making a play on the ball. The other, a 59-yard bomb to Watson, led the receiver perfectly, something Love has struggled to do throughout his career.
“Definitely, you can tell he’s getting back to himself,” receiver Dontayvion Wicks said. “For the last two weeks, I don’t see the injury affecting him. He’s back to (No.) 10.”
Love missed two games with a left MCL sprain and was further hobbled after pulling a groin muscle just as he started to show signs of regaining the mobility and accuracy he lost because of the knee injury.
After the groin injury against Jacksonville, he threw for just three touchdowns with two interceptions in the three games that followed.
In splitting the past two games against Detroit and Miami, he has completed 68.75% of his passes for 480 yards and three touchdowns. Most importantly, he threw no interceptions, raising his consecutive games without one to three.
“I think anytime you're dealing with anything, and especially seeing the things that he's done in the past, I mean, you definitely need your legs to do those things,” Watson said. “And I've definitely seen him feeling a lot more like himself for a few weeks now.”
Though Love has gone four straight games with a passer rating over 100, he hasn’t had a 300-yard game since Week 4 or more than two touchdowns in a game since Week 7. The Packers barely beat the Chicago Bears in the first of those four games and beat two sub-.500 teams (Miami and San Francisco) after that.
The Detroit game wasn’t a model performance for the passing game, but those dimes Love threw along with a couple he completed with rushers in his face were reminiscent of late last season when he got on a roll.
The ball to Kraft down the middle required a spectacular catch, but it was thrown so hard that it whizzed by cornerback Carlton Davis, who had no time to react to it. Love had linebacker Ezekiel Turner bearing down on him unblocked when he threw.
“The throw to Tucker,” Love said, “there's going to be those tight-window throws you’ve got to make happen, and receivers got to do a good job of making those plays, making those contested catches, which Tuck did on that one.”
The ball to Watson on his 29-yard grab skimmed off Davis’ fingers before arriving, and the receiver was able to corral it and gain 14 more yards after the catch. Love avoided unblocked blitzer Jack Campbell before resetting and throwing the pass. He was knocked to the ground after releasing the ball.
“He got a piece of it, but he didn’t really change the track of the ball at all,” Watson said of Davis. “So, it ended up working out. That was crazy.”
Love’s ability to make not only those kinds of pinpoint throws, but some much easier ones, suffered when he was fighting through his injuries.
In Weeks 4-9, he attempted 19 passes that could be considered bad throws not caused by pressure. Some were thrown behind the receiver or too low (even if caught), some led the receiver too far, and some were in the dirt or too high.
Those throws have been fewer and far between, although he did overthrow Kraft in the end zone on what would have been a certain touchdown against the Lions.
“I always feel like I can put the ball where I want to, and that's part of it, too, having that confidence to be able to throw those passes,” Love said. “But there's always a handful of plays, too, that might not come off or be in the exact spot that you wanted it to, or the throw might be a little bit off.
“So that's where you just got to try and be at your best every play, be as consistent and accurate as possible.”
After throwing 11 interceptions in eight games, Love has made a concerted effort not to take as many chances. Some of the picks he threw were balls forced into coverage where he thought his strong arm would prevail.
There was the pass he threw into triple coverage to Watson against Minnesota, the deep ball to Wicks with a blitzer in his face in the same game, the deep route to Watson with two defenders on him against Houston and the out route he floated to Romeo Doubs against Jacksonville.
He has avoided those risks of late, but now that he’s healthy and his arm is starting to make throws that good coverage can’t defend, maybe it’s OK for him to push the envelope, starting with Sunday night’s game at Seattle.
Love said it’s not about planning to take more risks but learning from the ones you did and didn’t take.
“There's always a handful of plays you go back on film after the game and say, ‘Man, maybe I could have thrown this play,’ or ’maybe I shouldn't have thrown this play,’’’ he said. “So, there's always that. But that's the fun part of just learning, growing and trying to be better for the next one.”
(This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)