Packers' Jordan Love plans to play Thursday after injuring his thumb in last year's preseason opener

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love says he doesn't mind playing at least a little in the preseason, even though a thumb injury in an exhibition game last year caused him to miss part of training camp.

Love expects to play in the Packers’ first preseason game Thursday at Pittsburgh. He has played in Green Bay’s preseason opener each of his three previous seasons as a starter and injured his left (non-throwing) thumb in an exhibition game last year with the New York Jets. He ended up undergoing surgery and returned to practice six days later.

“Obviously what happened last year sucked,” Love said Tuesday. “It was very tough. I’m glad that the timeline was what it was, and I was able to be good for Week One. But yeah, it’s definitely one of those things you got to take into consideration going into preseason and everything. Me and (coach) Matt (LaFleur) have talked, and I think the plan is to play some limited role this week and see how it goes going forward.”

Love acknowledges he does play differently in the preseason as compared to the regular season.

“The main thing is to stay healthy, obviously,” Love said. “Avoid taking hits. If you get into a scramble situation, definitely not take any hits outside the pocket, anything like that. But really, it’s just about being smart, trying to get the ball to your hand, find those completions, put together a good drive.”

LaFleur said the plan “as of right now” is for Love to play, though the coach added that “I always have the right to change my mind.”

Love doesn’t expect to play more than one or two series, depending on how that opening possession goes.

LaFleur believes his teams have fared better early in the season in years when his regulars had at least some playing time during the preseason. Love agrees he has benefited from at least making brief exhibition appearances.

“I think it gets you in the right mindset and just gets you back in that real game feel,” Love said.

Green Bay’s preseason opener at Pittsburgh will allow Love and LaFleur to reconnect with former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has made no secret regarding his lack of interest in playing preseason games at this stage of his career.

That reunion comes after LaFleur gained attention on social media regarding comments he made regarding the two quarterbacks in an NFL Network interview Monday.

When he was asked about how well Love works at the line of scrimmage before snaps in getting the offense ready, LaFleur replied that “he’s got to be the best I’ve been around in terms of protections and adjustments.” After being reminded that he also had coached Rodgers, LaFleur didn’t back down from his comments and quipped that “Aaron’s going to get mad about this.”

LaFleur was asked again Tuesday to compare the way the two quarterbacks adjusted protections at the line of scrimmage.

“Aaron was phenomenal, too, don’t get me wrong,” LaFleur said. “And I think Jordan really benefited from watching him and how he operated and how quickly he could process things. But I do think our offense has evolved over time, too.”

Love said he hadn’t seen LaFleur’s comments but had been made aware of them. He said that part of his game was “probably the biggest jump” he’s made since the 2020 first-round pick arrived from Utah State.

“In college, we didn’t do anything — we didn’t handle protections,” Love said. “We just threw hot. If we got pressure, we didn’t make any changes to the line of scrimmage. So getting into the NFL, that was the biggest test for me and the biggest area where I just had never done stuff like that.

“So obviously, I think being able to sit behind Aaron and see just the way he was able to control the line of scrimmage, see pressures, make protection adjustments, and pick stuff up was next level, and it gave me something to build up and to see, and be like, ‘Man, that’s what I want to be able to do.’"

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