GREEN BAY, Wis. — For the first four years of his tenure as Green Bay Packers head coach, Matt LaFleur had a veteran quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers had pretty much seen it all. This season will be different with new starting quarterback Jordan Love.
“The challenge is how do you reinvent yourself each and every year?” said LaFleur. “Knowing that the standards and expectations don’t change. We are expected to win. That’s what this business is all about.”
LaFleur said Love has earned the respect of his teammates through his work ethic and that Love is carrying himself as more of a leader.
“It’s been a cool process, from the day we drafted him to see him now, to see how he has matured and every facet of life,” LaFleur said. “He understands he is the guy in charge. It is hard to lead when you are not ‘the guy’ and he knows he’s the guy now. It instills confidence in him, and I’m excited for him. It’s going to be a process, but one that I know he can handle.”
LaFleur expressed confidence in Love, in large part because of what Love showed him last year in a relief appearance against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I don’t think we do this, or be in this position, if we didn’t have confidence in Jordan,” said LaFleur. “We’re excited for him and have a lot of confidence in him. I think he showed it in the limited action he had last year. The moment was not too big for him, you could see that. He was super poised, and that gave us the confidence we needed to see from him.”
LaFleur said Love learned a lot by watching Aaron Rodgers for three years. Now it’s time for Love to show what he can do on the field.