Packers fans weren’t the only ones impressed by Jordan Love’s performance during Sunday night’s 40-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Green Bay’s backup quarterback received high praise from Eagles corner Darius Slay on his “Big Play Slay” podcast.
“As a defense, when A-Rod goes out, we feel great,” Slay said on Monday. “That’s one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, so if he goes out, we got to go out here and really get active. The D-line gets a little hungrier because they know with a young buck coming in, they can get after the quarterback since A-Rod makes a lot of checks and communication at the line of scrimmage, that’s hard to sack. So, young buck (Love) comes in and actually does a very, very solid job. Green Bay got a bright, bright future, like a bright one because buddy was slinging it.”
Love replaced an injured Aaron Rodgers during the fourth quarter and went on to complete six of his nine passes for 113 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown to Christian Watson. The Packers scored on both of Love’s drives to make it a one-score game.
“I ain’t going to lie, he low-key looked like A-Rod, like he’s been learning a lot,” Slay continued. “It should be a blessing for him to be behind a GOAT and learning like that at a high level, and he’s a talented kid as well. He’s a first-round draft pick, so he has a lot of talent. He just has to wait his time, just how A-Rod waited his time for Brett Favre. His time is going to come, and you can see the gun-slinging mentality he had just like him (Rodgers). With the quick release and the flick, picking the back leg up, he’s copy and pasting him (Rodgers) for sure, and that’s a great player to be copy and pasting from.”
As a 10-year vet and four-time Pro Bowler, Slay’s review should be well-received by Green Bay fans. He is no stranger to good quarterback play, especially after facing Rodgers for consecutive seasons during his time with the Detroit Lions.
Love’s outing against the Eagles may have been brief, but it showed how far the former first-round pick has come. Now more game experience is the last step in his development.
However, Love will likely have to wait until Green Bay is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs to see extensive playing time. Rodgers received good news on his rib injury and said he expects to play this week against the Chicago Bears.
