Jordan Love should be 'good to go' for Packers playoffs; less optimism for Christian Watson
GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers closed out the regular season in disappointing fashion with a 24-22 loss to the rival Chicago Bears.
Now the Packers prepare for the NFC wild-card round in Philadelphia as a seventh seed facing the No. 2-seeded Eagles.
The question is, how healthy will the team be heading into the game?
Packers quarterback Jordan Love went down with an injury after attempting a pass early in the second quarter. It was announced as a right elbow injury, and he was questionable to return. He was replaced by Malik Willis, who finished the rest of the game.
“I landed on (my elbow) on the ground, I think,” Love said. “Pretty much lost all feeling in my hand and it all went numb.”
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Love could have gone back in the game if need be, so Love did take some practice throws on the sideline. Willis injured his thumb in the fourth quarter, but the Packers made the decision to stick with the backup quarterback, who finished the game 10-for-13 passing for 136 yards.
After the game, Love admitted he still doesn’t feel 100% and lost feeling in his throwing hand, but he said he was told the feeling will return. LaFleur said he has no concerns about the third-year quarterback’s availability for the playoffs, saying, “He’s good to go.”
Love’s injury was a hit for the Packers, and it wasn’t the only one. Before the game, it was announced receiver Romeo Doubs was out after he came down with an illness.
"I think he'll be good," LaFleur said of Doubs. "He was just in no shape to be in to play today. He tried."
LaFleur said Doubs being inactive played a part in playing Christian Watson, who missed the previous game with a knee injury. Watson suffered a noncontact knee injury while running a route in the second quarter. After spending time in the medical tent on the sideline, he was carted back to the locker room and was ruled out after halftime.
On the severity of the injury, LaFleur said, “I'm not super confident about that right now.”
The Packers were without linebacker Quay Walker (ankle), safety Evan Williams (quad), defensive end Brenton Cox Jr. (foot) and safety Zayne Anderson (concussion) in the loss to the Bears, and cornerback Jaire Alexander was placed on injured reserve this week after having knee surgery.
Regardless of who’s on the field, this team is adamant they have to play cleaner football or it could be an early exit in the playoffs.
“You lose a game like this, I don’t really think you need a lot of motivation. I think guys will be fired up,” Love said. “We talked about it in the locker room, if this was the playoffs we’d be going home. If we want to be feeling that, we’ll do nothing and just go through the week. If we want to talk about what we’ve been talking about all season about having a chance to win a Super Bowl and make a run in the playoffs, we’ll have to dial in and look at the film, and really take a deep dive, and be more consistent.”