Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur spoke on Thursday with Jordan Love one touchdown pass from 100 for his career, and the coach said he had not even clocked the milestone until a reporter brought it up. “Well, I didn’t know that. Number one, Wes, so thanks for enlightening me,” LaFleur said. Asked what the six-year journey with Love has looked like from his seat, he kept it simple. “Just to see where he started to where he is now has been a pretty cool experience for me. And just to watch his growth, not only as a player, but as a person. It’s been pretty cool.”
The Packers are 5-3. Kickoff at the New England Patriots is Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, which is 11:25 p.m. in Cairo.
“He’s stayed right here”
What LaFleur valued most was that Love’s personality has not drifted with the numbers. “The coolest part about it is throughout this whole journey and this whole process, he’s stayed right here. He’s the same guy each and every day,” LaFleur said. “And that’s a big-time credit to him and his family for how they raised him.”
A reporter noted that Love’s early-career touchdown pace sits close to Aaron Rodgers and asked about the pressure that comes with the job in Green Bay. “There’s lofty expectations that just come with playing quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. I mean, it’s just unprecedented what’s taken place here over the course of what, 30 years now,” LaFleur said. “So yeah, there was a lot of pressure, and just to see him handle that the way he has and with humility and class, it’s a big-time credit to him.”
Cox, takeaways and New England’s front
On edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. through the first half of the season, LaFleur said the snaps and the physicality are lining up. “I think Brenton Cox is a guy that he just gets better and better and better, and he’s always been a really physical player,” he said. “But I think he’s definitely taken his level — given more opportunity as well — and has taken his game to the next level for him.”
Asked why Green Bay has been better at creating takeaways, he pointed to talent on the ball and pressure up front. “I think when you have talented players … in the second and third levels have really good ball skills, and then they get put in positions and we’re putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback in various different ways where sometimes they make bad decisions. And our guys are capitalizing on those.”
Looking ahead to New England, LaFleur said Patriots edge Elijah Ponder jumped off the tape. “He’s a really good player. To be truthful, I hadn’t heard a whole lot about him until I started watching the tape and I’m like, who is this guy?” he said. “Everybody knows about him now.” He grouped Ponder with the rest of the edge group and the interior, naming Christian Barmore and Milton Williams as part of “a really formidable front” that plays off one another and changes front structures.
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