Why Jordan Love’s sudden improvement

Stable and consistent. That’s what you’ve heard from the Green Bay Packers when it comes to describing Jordan Love.

They were traits considered desirable for a rookie quarterback.

While Love isn’t easily moved, nor is he prone to publicly criticizing his teammates when they don’t deliver, those traits don’t necessarily translate into much else in terms of production or, more importantly, results.

And then receivers coach Jason Vrable noticed something different one day.

“He yelled at our guys a couple times that day, and I actually got a little emotional watching him start to recover and when they made mistakes, correct them,” Vrable described this week. “But at the same time, Jordan has been an exceptional leader for them, and I believe in the trust that Jordan has in them and what they say in the meeting room when he says, ‘Hey, keep it up. That’s what we need.’ . .’ “The ball is coming your way.”

It’s not that Love has turned into Aaron Rodgers and shown his displeasure when a young player makes a mistake, but it was a sign that Love has adjusted better to the position.

Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements recalled a specific moment when Love charged a player who took the wrong route.

“A guy ran a different route, not what he called himself in the huddle,” Clements shared without identifying the player or the game. “He heard something different. That happens sometimes. You try to take him out. But it was at an important point in the game. Jordan got upset and went against him. After that, the player understood, and it’s one of those things that happens.” During the game. During the course of the game. You have to listen. If it doesn’t work well, it must be corrected. And he corrected it and we moved on.”

And the results have continued.

Over the last four games, Love’s completion percentage has skyrocketed to 65 percent and the Packers are 3-1. With a 5-6 record, the Packers have put themselves back in the playoff picture heading into Sunday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Through the first seven games, Love completed a league-worst 58 percent completion rate and averaged 213.1 yards per pass, compared to 276.8 over the last four. In that same span, he threw eight touchdown passes against two interceptions, compared to 11 and eight in the first seven games.

“There’s been a lot of good things in the last month,” said the man who spent 12 years in the NFL as a quarterback. “You hear the terms floors and ceilings. I’d say your floor has gone up in the last month or so.”

Orlovsky, who closely studies quarterback film, said he has noticed two main differences between the Packers and Love over the past month: coach Matt LaFleur’s use of running tricks to protect Love, and Love’s ability to to do so, despite some mechanical problems that Orlovsky said can be fixed: completing more basic passes.

“Do I think he’s where he needs to be mechanically or with his feet now?” -Orlovsky asked. “No. But I think they’ve realized that if it’s clean or protected, they can get to the mechanics and the feet in the offseason with a little more balance and foundation. They’re doing a really good job.” to keep it clean in that sense.

“The second thing, from Week 3 to Week 8 or 9, the most obvious thing to me (I’ve talked about his feet and jumps) would be a ‘9’ or ‘2’ shot, which means that if we grade the shot from 1 to 10, I would have three, four, five per game, which was 9, and then I would have three, four or five per game, which was 2,” Orlovsky added. “He didn’t have too many 3s. On the stat sheet, it might even have been a completion, but instead of being an 11-yard gain, it was a 4-yard gain because he was low or slowed down the receiver.” Or something like that. “Too many good pitches, not enough good pitches.”

In a way, all this was to be expected. General manager Brian Gutekunst created the skill position groups with young players, hoping they would grow along with Love.

Growing pains could finally turn into gains. Rookie receivers Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks have started to show big-play ability, while second-year receivers Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson (the veterans of the group) have started to be more consistent.

Watson has five receptions and a season-high 94 yards with a touchdown against the Lions on seven targeted passes. He came into the game having caught just 43 percent of his targeted passes, the worst rate for any player with at least 30 passes. . directed in the year. He scored a touchdown in each of the last two games, after going scoreless in the previous five.

While the Packers lost tight end Luke Musgrave to a lacerated kidney last week, fellow rookie Tucker Kraft has stepped up with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in the most recent two games.

“He’s clicking,” Watson described Love. “We’re seeing exactly what we knew he was capable of. As a team and as an offense, specifically, we have to keep piling up these games. I think he’s done a great job of piling up these weeks and piling up these reps and he continues to get better and better. We has shown exactly what we have seen from him from the beginning.

Combine that with an offensive line that could have a star in right tackle Zach Tom, who helped keep Love from being sacked against the Lions, and the Packers have an offense that, over the past four weeks, ranks eighth in the NFL in percentage yards. game (391), sixth in passing yards per game (263) and fifth in yards per pass attempt (8.0).

The final number could be the most important. In that period, Love began to connect more on downfield shots. He connected on just 35 percent of his throws with 15 passing yards or more in the first seven games, but has been at 65 percent in the last four.

If the main goal of the campaign was to find out if Love can be the Packers’ next franchise quarterback, the last month he has brought them closer to an answer.

“I don’t know if he’s Aaron [in terms of] arm talent, arm swagger, middle finger,” Orlovsky said. “He’s not a coach either. That’s not who he is, athletically. But, if bad mechanics are causing you to miss passes that you and every other quarterback should and are capable of making, then you need to take care of that. And I still believe that There are things they must do, but you absolutely can do them.

“The hard part is trying to win games or develop habits. These are things you can absolutely improve on. And I think if he continues to play this way, next year there will be no doubt about him in any way.” “.

Watson has five receptions and a season-high 94 yards with a touchdown against the Lions on seven targeted passes. He came into the game having caught just 43 percent of his directed passes, the worst rate for any player with at least 30 passes. . directed in the year. He scored a touchdown in each of the last two games, after going scoreless in the previous five.

While the Packers lost tight end Luke Musgrave to a lacerated kidney last week, fellow rookie Tucker Kraft has stepped up with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown in the most recent two games.

“He’s clicking,” Watson described Love. “We’re seeing exactly what we knew he was capable of. As a team and as an offense, specifically, we have to keep piling up these games. I think he’s done a great job piling up these weeks and piling up these reps. And he continues to get better and better. We’ve demonstrated exactly what we’ve seen from him from the beginning.

Combine that with an offensive line that could have a star in right tackle Zach Tom, who helped keep Love from being sacked against the Lions, and the Packers have an offense that, over the past four weeks, ranks eighth in the NFL in yardage percentage. . game (391), sixth in passing yards per game (263) and fifth in yards per pass attempt (8.0).

The final number could be the most important. In that period, Love began to connect more on downfield shots. He connected on just 35 percent of his throws with 15 passing yards or more in the first seven games, but has been at 65 percent in the last four.

If the main goal of the campaign was to find out if Love can be the Packers’ next franchise quarterback, the last month has brought them closer to an answer.

“I don’t know if he’s Aaron [in terms of] arm talent, arm swagger, middle finger,” Orlovsky said. “He’s not a coach either. That’s not who he is, athletically. But, if bad mechanics are causing you to miss passes that you and every other quarterback should and are capable of making, then you need to take care of that. And I still believe that there are things that must be done, but you absolutely can do them.

“The hard part is trying to win games or develop habits. These are things you can absolutely improve on. And I think if he continues to play this way, next year there won’t be any doubt about him in any way.” “.