GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers return from their bye Sunday at the Denver Broncos. The young, 2-3 Packers are in no position to assume a victory.
The Broncos may be 1-5, but Denver has been a tough place for the Packers to play. In seven games there through the years, the Packers have won only once.
“I know what their record is,” said Packers head coach Matt LaFleur. “But, when you look at it, lost one game, the first game by one point, lost to Washington right at the end there by two points. And then, you know, it was a tight game with the Jets. So, that’s just this league, and you got to prepare to be your best each and every week. And I know Denver’s a very tough place to play. I don’t care who you’re playing, where you’re playing, you just look at the scores around the league every week, somebody is going to surprise you and it’s I mean, we’re a two win team.”
“We in the NFL, you can’t overlook anybody,” said Packers linebacker Quay Walker. “That’s the reason why we in the NFL. All teams are still good. Can’t overlook anybody. You don’t want to do that anyway, whether we 2-3 or 5-0.”
The Packers coaching staff spent the bye week poring over the game tape from the team’s first five games.
“Just a lot of inconsistent play,” said LaFleur. “There’s certain things that, as a play caller, that you are disappointed with yourself, in terms of putting guys in certain situations. It’s just been very choppy. We haven’t been able to get into a consistent rhythm.”
“I think you got to keep your head down, keep working,” said Packers quarterback Jordan Love. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of highs and lows. It’s not going to be perfect, you know that. But the main thing for us is to keep our head down and keep working.”
The Broncos defense became a punchline for giving up 10 touchdowns and 70 points to the Miami Dolphins in a game earlier this season.
“You’ve got to be careful,” said LaFleur. “They have a lot of talent in the back end, and they can make you pay. They got really good ball skills as well.”
Packers cornerback Eric Stokes was seen at practice. He’s in the 21-day window where he can be activated from the Physically Unable to Perform List.
Love didn’t throw any interceptions in the first two games of the season. He’s thrown six over the last three games, including three against the Raiders.
“It’s not a great feeling,” said Love. “That definitely left a very sick taste in my mouth that whole week. It’s part of the game. I’ve had three interceptions in a game before. You’ve got to find a way to bounce back, and it’s always on to the next play. More of just consistency and finding those completions and getting the playmakers the ball in space, so they can operate and make guys miss. Not always trying to find that big play and force a ball downfield, but just getting the ball in guys’ hands and quickly.”
Love said the bye week was important for him.
“You stay focused, kind of just reflecting on the game so far, performances so far. Things I did good, things I did bad. Just kind of review all that mentally and just take those reps and just kind of refocus.”
Love is expected to get some help Sunday with the return of running back Aaron Jones from a hamstring injury.
“He’s an explosive playmaker,” said Love. “That’s the guy that we need to get the ball to when he’s in. The tape doesn’t lie. He does a lot of really good things out there on the field. It’s part of the game. There’s injuries all the time. And it’s just like I always say, it’s next man up, but it’s tough. You’ve got to find a way throughout practice to get all those reps and get that chemistry back down. When you have everybody out there, it just puts more stress on the defense. Try to figure out what they want to do and how they want to stop everybody and who they want to stop that day.”
Love said the Packers offense has done a good job in the red zone, but it needs to get there more often. Love said he’s anxious to “get this thing turned around and get rollin’.”