Jordan Love’s recovery from his MCL sprain appears to be going well. The Green Bay Packers quarterback practiced on Wednesday for the first time since sustaining the injury during Green Bay’s season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
As you can see below, Love took part in team warmups before throwing passes to his teammates during individual drills.
“Definitely feeling a lot better,” Love said following Wednesday’s practice, via USA Today. “Just taking it day by day.”
Love described the injury as “definitely painful” and that there were “a lot of emotions” when it was initially sustained. He also called it a “very scary moment” as he wasn’t sure how significant the injury was. Love said him being able to walk and put weight on that knee shortly after sustaining the injury was obviously a good sign for his recovery.
Love was not medically cleared to play in Green Bay’s home opener this past Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. With Love looking on, backup Malik Willis went 12 of 14 that included a touchdown pass in Green Bay’s 16-10 win. Willis was aided by a Packers rushing attack that gorged the Colts for 261 yards on 53 carries.
Love was initially expected to be out anywhere from 2-6 weeks, so his practice participation on Wednesday would suggest that his return may be on the earlier side of said timetable. Green Bay (1-1) will travel to face Tennessee (0-2) — Willis’ former team — before hosting NFC North division rival Minnesota (1-1) in Week 4. Green Bay will head to the West Coast to face the Rams (0-2) in Week 5 before returning home to host Arizona (1-1) and Houston (2-0) in consecutive weeks.
While Love is making progress, Willis is prepared to face his former team on Sunday if he is asked to do so. Willis was unceremoniously traded to the Packers this offseason after two seasons in Nashville.
“When I got traded, it was a little bit emotional,” Willis recently said of the situation. “I didn’t know how to feel. But with the season coming, I just had to flush all that. We can worry about it later, and just understand this season doesn’t wait on anybody. … This is a results-based business. That’s just what it is. I just continued to try to work until I got another opportunity and it just so happened it came (last) week.”
