The night before his first training camp practice as QB1 for the Green Bay Packers, Jordan Love received a text from former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Here is what the text said in Love’s words, video from Matt Schneidman of The Athletic:
Jordan Love says Aaron Rodgers reached out last night ahead of Love’s first camp as QB1. Here’s what he told him: pic.twitter.com/nRkkG65an8
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 26, 2023
“He said just be yourself, have fun, enjoy it,” Love said.
While Rodgers may hold some lingering ill will toward Green Bay’s front office, he has never shown any resentment toward Love, who was drafted to be his replacement in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. In fact, the two formed a bond over the years, and that friendship will seemingly continue even though Rodgers is with a new team.
After all, this is not the first Rodgers has reached out to Love since being dealt to the New York Jets. He and Love spoke not long after the trade was announced.
“He wished me the best and said he’d always be there for me if I need anything or have any questions,” Love told reporters back in May. “I will always be grateful to be around him and the time I had with him where I was able to learn and be behind him. I’m very grateful for it.”
Rodgers knows better than anyone what it is like to take over for a future Hall of Fame quarterback, so he is more than willing to offer any advice to Love as he begins his own journey.
Of course, Love would like to blaze his own path and have the Packers not miss a beat now that he is the face of the franchise. However, it’s going to take time and there may be some hiccups along the way.
In his first training camp practice as the starting quarterback, he completed 7 out of 14 passes and missed some makeable throws, according to multiple members of the media in attendance.
Until Love can get his feet under him and have the offense operating the way it’s supposed to, days like today are to be expected. Right now, Matt LaFleur said he just wants to see Love getting more comfortable and improving every day while taking a ton of reps.
“There’s a lot of things I’d like to see out of him,” LaFleur said Tuesday via NFL.com. “It’s more or less just the process of becoming better each and every day and the command that he has. Certainly, you want to give him every opportunity.
“You can’t give him enough reps. Just making those incremental improvements and becoming more consistent on a daily basis. I’m really excited. He definitely has complete command of our offense. There’s no doubt about it. He’s put the work in, he knows the ins and outs. Now it’s going to apply that in a real situation.”
