GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love says he is practicing with fewer limits and moving better this week as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
Whether that means Love will be ready to play Sunday in their NFC North opener against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings remains uncertain.
Love has missed two games since injuring his left medial collateral ligament in the final series of the Packers’ 34-29 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil. This is the second straight week he has practiced on a limited basis.
Malik Willis has thrived while filling in for Love, helping the Packers (2-1) beat the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans.
“Yeah, definitely, I feel like I’m getting better every day, moving around, getting out there practicing and feeling better,” Love said.
Love said he based that assessment on having a feel for his body and assessing how he runs and handles drills in practice. Love added that he was “pretty close” to playing in the Packers’ last game, a 30-14 victory at Tennessee.
“I was pushing it all week, trying to get myself ready, but at the end of the week we just determined I wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Love said.
Love said he has been making progress since then, but wouldn’t make any definitive predictions about whether he’d play Sunday.
He did acknowledge the importance of Sunday’s game as the Packers host a division opponent.
“I’m trying to push it and I’ve been trying to get back as fast as I can no matter who the opponent was,” Love said. “But definitely, you look at this week — an NFC North opponent, 3-0 team, really good team — so definitely it would mean a lot to get back and push myself to get back for this game.”
Love’s ability to move around effectively will be paramount as the Packers face a Vikings defense that has an NFL-leading 16 sacks.
“That’s definitely a concern,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “So we’ve got to do a great job in terms of our protection calls, making sure we get a body on a body and then you’ve got to go and actually block these guys which isn’t the easiest task to do either. I think they’ve got a lot of good rushers in there. I think they rush collectively as a unit as one as good as anybody.”
With Love out the last two weeks, the Packers have won on the strength of a dominant rushing attack and opportunistic defense. The Packers lead the NFL in takeaways (nine) and rushing yards (204 per game).
Willis has played a big role in that ground attack by rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He also has completed 75% of his passes the last two games for 324 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“He’s getting the ball out, he’s not taking any sacks,” Love said. “He’s just avoiding those negative plays, which is able to keep the offense moving, and he’s made some big-time throws, he’s made some big-time scrambles. He’s played at a really high level so far.”
Willis says there’s no change in his approach this week as Love moves closer to a return.
“Same as last week, same as the week before that, same as the first week in Brazil,” Willis said. “You just try to prepare as best you can and be ready to go if called upon.”
Love wants to make sure he’s ready as well as he prepares mentally for his comeback while “knowing that you’re not going to be 100 percent.” He wants to make sure he’s not worrying about the possibility of hurting the knee again once he gets back on the field.
“If it happens, it happens,” Love said. “Just control what I can control at the end of the day, and try and protect myself as best I can and just hope those things don’t happen.”
Notes: OL Jordan Morgan (shoulder) didn’t practice Wednesday after missing the entire Titans game and the second half of the Colts game. Limited practice participants included Love, CB Jaire Alexander (quad), DL Kenny Clark (toe), LG Elgton Jenkins (rest), TE Tucker Kraft (shoulder), TE Luke Musgrave (quad), C Josh Myers (shoulder), WR Jayden Reed (calf/quad), OT Zach Tom (quad) and CB Carrington Valentine (ankle).
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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