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Jordan Love has known about Christian Watson’s speed for five years. What has changed this season, the Green Bay Packers quarterback said Wednesday, is everything that happens once the ball is in the air.
“He’s making contested catches, and that’s an area that everybody’s talked about growth, and he’s been making huge strides in that area,” Love said. “For me it’s just fun to watch, when you got a guy that you can get on any route. You never know, he can take it to the crib at any time.”
“There’s more out there”
Love said Watson’s value goes beyond the deep ball. “He’s in the right spots, both the passing game, the run game. He knows what to do. He’s been in the system for a while and he’s a smart guy,” he said. “Now it’s just seeing how far we can take this thing with me and him and our connection.” Asked whether there is more to come, Love did not hesitate: “Oh yeah, for sure.”
He also backed Tucker Kraft, who owned some drops after the trip to Tampa and is still working back from a long injury layoff. “You never have any doubt in what he’s going to do,” Love said. “He’s going to be a guy that spends extra time on the Jugs machine.” Asked whether Watson, Matthew Golden and Kraft belong in the conversation with the league’s best receiver trios, Love said he thinks very highly of his group and left it there.
A cleaner pocket and a goal-line statement
Sunday’s win over Chicago came behind a reshuffled offensive line, and Love said the difference was obvious. “We’ve been a lot more firm in pass pro, cleaning up who we’re going to on some of the blitzes,” he said. “I felt very clean in the pocket, had time to throw, get through my reads.”
He said the offense has replayed MarShawn Lloyd’s touchdown run “so many times.” “You got to run behind your pads and there’s always going to be an unblocked defender. You either got to make a miss or run somebody over, and he did that,” Love said. “There’s still a lot more out there for us in the run game.”
Old friends, and lessons from a tie
The Cowboys arrive with two longtime Packers, Rashan Gary and Kenny Clark, playing Green Bay for the first time. “I was with RG and Kenny for a long time and I got a lot of respect and love for those guys,” Love said. “I know we’ll get their best.”
Last season’s meeting in Dallas ended in a tie after a late-game shootout, and Love said the end-of-game sequence is still part of the teaching. “So many lessons,” he said, describing a no-huddle snap the offense did not line up correctly for. “Everybody’s got to be dialed in, locked in, especially when it’s a close game, on how much time’s left on the clock.”
After an uneven start, he called the Bears game one the offense needed. “Anytime you have a game like Sunday, it builds confidence,” Love said. “Now it’s how do we follow that performance up with another good one Sunday?” The Packers host the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football on October 18.
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