The Green Bay Packers will be among the teams entering the 2023 season with a new quarterback leading their offense, with Jordan Love finally taking over after three years as Aaron Rodgers’ backup.
Speaking this week, Packers running back AJ Dillon said that from what he’s seen, the wait that Love had to endure -- while not ideal -- did give him one major advantage. In comparison to other newly minted starting QBs who are coming right out of college, Love has had three years to create long-term bonds with his teammates in Green Bay.
Dillon said this time has resulted in an overwhelmingly positive attitude towards their new signal-caller before he’s even stepped on the field.
“People trust him, people listen to him when he enters the huddle, because it’s not like some new guy that just popped up just calling the shots,” Dillon said in an interview on SiriusXM Radio. “He definitely has all the intangibles. He’s earned the trust of the locker room. Guys respect him. Guys wanna play for him. Guys wanna help him as much as they wanna help themselves.
“Obviously nothing’s perfect in football, everybody knows that. But I think he’s got a lot of support and everybody would run through a wall for him.”
While Love did have to wait longer than most first-round picks to officially take over as QB1, it’s not like the 24-year-old has just been watching from the sidelines the entire time. He’s been practicing with the team, working alongside Rodgers, and when Rodgers was unavailable, he stepped in during games, getting valuable snaps to get a feel for NFL play.
And Love made clear strides between his outings in 2021 and 2022. In six games in 2021 (one start), he had a 58.1 completion percentage, averaged 11.4 yards per completion, and had two touchdowns to three interceptions. But last season, Love boosted those numbers to 66.7%, 13.9 yards, and no INTs in four appearances.
“It’s one of those things where he has been in the system. You know you never go into a game preparing to be RB2 or QB2, you always go in preparing to be the starter, and whatever happens, you might get thrust into that role,” Dillon said. “And there’s a couple of times throughout his career already where he’s had to step up and he’s had to play, and he’s done a great job at it.”
Dillon also emphasized how impressed he was with the maturity in Love’s approach to the drawn-out process, and his own excitement at seeing how his QB can take hold of the opportunity in front of him.
“He’s done everything the right way, there’s a lot of guys who might not have handled the situation so graciously for three years,” Dillon said. “He kept his head down, he kept working, he showed up every day, did the right thing, and kept improving. So it’s definitely an awesome opportunity for him, and I’m excited to be his teammate, but also as a friend to watch him do this thing.”