Packers' Love: Repaired Thumb Ready for NFL Season

Jordan Love Says He’s Ready for the Start of the Season

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, although still with a brace on his operated left thumb, is optimistic about the start of the regular season. Love, who continues to practice with his right hand for passes, says he doesn’t believe this will limit his performance on the field. Love stated that he has “no concerns” heading into the first game on September 7 against the Detroit Lions, but that he will need to protect his thumb with a splint similar to the one he has been using in training.

“I’ll have to wear it for a few weeks and keep it protected,” Love said on Thursday. “It’s something we’ll see as we go, as I start playing and see how it feels, when I get back to real contact. But I’ll have to wear that splint for a while.”
Jordan Love

On Thursday, coach Matt LaFleur led a scrimmage for the Packers, the closest thing Love has had to real action. Love began participating in full periods (11 against 11) only one day before. Previously, he did not take snaps from center or in the shotgun formation, but rather simply held the ball or picked it up to simulate the snap, limiting himself to individual drills and 7-on-7. After Thursday’s practice, Love offered more details on why he opted for surgery instead of trying to play through the injury.

“If you don’t have stability there, you don’t have strength either,” Love said. “So it was practically a loose thumb. I really couldn’t do much with it, and it’s something I didn’t want to deal with during the season. Who knows if that would have kept getting injured, getting worse, and who knows how that would have been for a whole season? So I think, and the doctors’ opinion was, just get the surgery and try to get back to 100% for the season.”
Jordan Love

This week also marked the return of receivers Jayden Reed (foot) and Dontayvion Wicks (calf) from injuries suffered at the beginning of training camp. However, because teams do not have to issue injury and participation reports until next week, it is unclear how much they did in practice. “Between our receivers and him who is a little touched, we certainly haven’t had the amount of work we would have liked,” said Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. “But there is a lot of confidence in him to get ready to play in Week 1.” The only starter who did not practice on Thursday was cornerback Nate Hobbs, who underwent knee surgery on August 2. He was initially expected to return for the start of the season.