Packers’ Jordan Love emphasizes importance of OTAs amid contract talks; Matt LaFleur says ‘it’s everything’

Organized team activities are technically optional. Some of NFL top players, especially those entering contract years hoping to get a deal done before the season starts, like the league’s 2023 receptions leader – Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb – take the approach of resisting your team’s offseason programs until a deal is reached.

The quarterback’s position is a little different, however, when it comes to pushback and dealing with time before a new deal. That’s the case Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who participated in the offseason in Dallas, as well as the quarterback who shut him and Lamb out in the postseason in Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. Love finished second to Prescott – 36 to 32 – atop the NFL’s passing touchdown leaderboard last season, his first as Green Bay’s full-time starter following Aaron Rodgers’ departure to New York Jets. He enters 2024 on the final year of his current contract, just like Prescott, but unlike the Dallas Pro Bowler, he has yet to receive his first big payday. However, Love makes a point of showing up at the Packers’ facility at every opportunity.

“That’s something I’ve always done, try to be here, get the reps, work with the guys and start to build that chemistry and get ready for the season,” Love said Tuesday on Packers OTAs. “I think that’s always part of it. Just show up and the other guys will follow suit. It’s a testament to everyone wanting to be here, wanting to do this job.”

There is also a chance that his handling of live reps in the preseason against other teams in full contact will be different, but until that point, Love will be on the practice field throughout the off-season.

“No, so I don’t really know what’s going on, but we’ll see,” Love said when asked if his representative told him to play in the preseason without a new contract. “But I’m not going to get into too many contractual issues.”

Matt LaFleur, the Packers coach entering his sixth season in Green Bay after replacing Mike McCarthy in 2019, said Love’s presence speaks for itself and has generated the program’s best offseason attendance during his tenure at the helm. That’s a strong testament, as Green Bay is 56-27 under LaFleur, who is tied for the third-best record in the NFL over the past five seasons, along with the Baltimore Ravens.

“It’s everything to us,” LaFleur said Tuesday of love appearing. “I think if you look at our presence here, we had a guy go missing for a personal matter. [cornerback Robert Rochell], but we had almost 100% all offseason. This was the best we’ve had since I got here [since 2019]. I always think when you look around the league, when your quarterback is there, it naturally attracts everyone. We’re still a very young football team, so these guys want to work. We have a lot of guys who love the game and love the process of working together and going through some tough things together. But to have it here, you can’t put a value on it.”

The value of Love and the entire team being in the facility is clear: It could give the offense a chance to start 2024 the same way it finished 2023 — notching seven wins in its last 10 games, including the postseason with the quarterback of Green Bay. throwing 23 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

“I feel a little more comfortable,” Love said. Obviously I had a full season to do a lot of reps to learn and grow. I definitely feel a lot more comfortable every year I’ve been here. This year even more so. … My leadership has grown every year, even more so now. I think it was difficult when Aaron was still the quarterback, and I was the backup to try to be in that leadership role and tell the guys one thing when he wanted something different. So that’s always been difficult, and obviously now being the guy from last year, I try to elevate that role and talk to the guys more. Be in the guys’ ears a little more and try to focus on being a better leader by talking to the guys. The more reps I get, the more comfortable I get, the better I get with this relationship with the guys here, it gets easier. It’s definitely something I’ve gotten better at every year.”

Love, the starting quarterback for the first time in 2023, played for a skill position group almost as inexperienced as he was last year, with essentially all of his pass catchers being in their first or second NFL season. However, the Packers’ offense set NFL single-season records for most receptions (302), receiving yards (3,642) and receiving touchdowns (31) by first- or second-year players in 2023. That group with even more chemistry could provide a big boost with added continuity.

“The guys know exactly where they will be. We have a lot of chemistry from last year and built-in reps,” Love said. … “It’s definitely a big difference.”

The underlying vibe of Love and LaFleur’s comments indicates a belief in Green Bay that they have a team fighting for a Super Bowl this upcoming season. In 2023, they defeated the eventual two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 27-19 on Sunday Night Football in Week 13, and led the eventual NFC champion San Francisco 49ers on the road in the NFC divisional round until recently. one more minute remaining in a 24-21 loss The Packers want to prove they can be much more than an exciting rookie in 2024. Cornerback Keisean Nixon, who was the NFL’s First Team All-Pro kick returner in each of the last two seasons, said it directly.

“I feel like we left a team [the San Francisco 49ers] got off the hook last year in the playoffs, and we know it,” Nixon said Tuesday. “Everyone on this team is here with a mission and we are ready to win a Super Bowl. So we’re all stuck here and it shows we have nothing to play with.”