The Green Bay Packers seemed to have a full head of steam heading into the 2024 NFL playoffs, but they have cooled off in a big way in recent weeks. After a difficult loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 17, the Packers took a stunning loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 18.
During that Bears game, the Packers suffered a litany of key injuries. First, wide receiver Christian Watson went down with a non-contact knee injury that ended up being a torn ACL that will force him to miss the rest of the season. Shortly after, that, quarterback Jordan Love went down with a right elbow injury that kept him out for the rest of the game. Backup quarterback Malik Willis also picked up a thumb injury during the loss.
On Wednesday, the Packers got an uncertain injury update on both of their quarterbacks ahead of their Wild Card playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media.
“Packers QB Jordan Love (right elbow) was officially a limited participant in practice today — and so was backup QB Malik Willis (right thumb),” Pelissero reported on X, formerly Twitter.
The big news is of course surrounding Love, who is one of the main pieces that makes this Packers offense a very difficult unit to stop when he has it going. During Sunday’s game, Love was seen on the sidelines trying to grip the football and throw on the sidelines, but wasn’t feeling good enough to come back in the game.
The Packers were forced to start Willis for two games this season, so Matt LaFleur and company have shown that they can handle a game plan centered around him. However, those game plans mostly included running the ball over and over and over and being somewhat one-dimensional, which would make it very difficult to move the ball against an elite Eagles defense.
Having Love in the lineup would give the Packers a puncher’s chance to pull the upset in Philadelphia. Green Bay moved the ball pretty well against the Eagles during their Week 1 meeting in Brazil, and the explosiveness that this Packers team has in the passing game gets taken to another level with Love in the lineup. Having him out there is crucial for LaFleur and company, so keep an eye on his status over the next few days.
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