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Rob Demovsky
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Jordan Love was still donning a brace on his surgically treated left thumb and continued to hand off using solely his right hand, but the Green Bay Packers quarterback maintains that such issues won’t hinder his performance when the regular season kicks off.
Love expressed that he has «no worries» leading into the Sept. 7 opener against the Detroit Lions, noting that the thumb will need to be safeguarded with a brace akin to the one he has utilized in practice.
«It’ll be a few weeks of having to brace it and just keep it guarded,» Love stated Thursday. «It’s one of those matters where we will assess as I start participating in games and observe how it feels when getting back to live contact. But it will be a while with that brace still on.
On Thursday, coach Matt LaFleur conducted a simulated game for the Packers, which represents the closest Love would experience to actual game scenarios. Love only began engaging in full-team (11-on-11) drills a day prior. Before this, he was not taking snaps from under center or in the shotgun formation; instead, he was merely holding the ball or retrieving it to mimic the snap and was partaking only in individual drills and 7-on-7 exercises.
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Following Thursday’s practice, Love shared more insights into why he chose surgery rather than attempting to play through his injury.
«Without any stability, there’s no strength either,» Love explained. «It was essentially just a limp thumb. I couldn’t really accomplish much with it, and before the season started, I didn’t want to be struggling with that for the entirety of the season. It’s uncertain if that would have sustained further injuries or complications, and who can predict how that would affect playing an entire season? So, the doctors and I agreed that it was best to go forward with the surgery and aim to return as close to 100 percent as possible for the season.»
This week also saw the return of receivers Jayden Reed (foot) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf) from the injuries they experienced early in training camp. However, since teams won’t be required to provide injury and participation reports until next week, the extent of their practice involvement remains uncertain.
«Given our receivers’ injuries and him being somewhat banged up, we definitely haven’t had the level of practice that you would desire,» Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst remarked. «However, there’s a lot of trust in him regarding his readiness for Week 1.»
The only starter absent from Thursday’s practice was cornerback Nate Hobbs, who underwent knee surgery on Aug. 2. Initially, he was anticipated to return for the season opener.
«I feel confident about where I am in my recovery, and we’ll evaluate next week how I’m feeling,» Hobbs stated.
