GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love was playing at less than full strength and missing his usual starting center.
That combination proved costly in the Packers’ 24-14 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
One week after a groin strain caused him to leave in the third quarter of a 30-27 victory at Jacksonville, Love worked his way back in time to face the NFC North-leading Lions. But he wasn’t as effective as usual and threw a pick-6 in the final minute of the second quarter that helped Detroit (7-1) take control.
Love said on multiple occasions after the game that the injury didn’t impact his play.
“No, I felt fine,” Love said.
Love went 23 of 39 for 273 yards without a touchdown pass. His receivers dropped several passes on a rainy afternoon.
The biggest mistake by Love came just before halftime.
The Packers (6-3) trailed 10-3 and faced second-and-2 from their own 38 when Love rolled to his right while under pressure. He threw a short pass intended for Josh Jacobs, but Lions safety Kerby Joseph picked it off and ran 27 yards into the end zone with 32 seconds left before halftime.
Love said he didn’t see Joseph when he made the throw.
“I saw (Jacobs) trying to get out and was trying to dump it down,” Love said. “It was a check-down to him, and the ball did not go where I wanted it to. They made a good play on it.”
Love has thrown 10 interceptions on 240 pass attempts this season. As a first-year starter last season, Love was picked off 11 times in 579 attempts.
“He’s fighting, he’s competing and we know that we’ve got to take care of the football,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “But I don’t question anything about what he’s trying to do. We’ve just got to do it better.”
The Packers eventually fell behind 24-3 and were hindered by several botched snaps as they tried to rally. Elgton Jenkins, normally the starting left guard, played center because Josh Myers was out with a wrist injury.
After the Packers had second-and-10 at Detroit’s 14 in the third quarter, Love fumbled back-to-back snaps. The Packers recovered both times but had to settle for Brandon McManus' 38-yard field goal.
Love also fumbled a snap early in the fourth quarter after the Packers reached the Detroit 36. That drive ended when Jacobs was stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the 9.
“There’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up,” Love said. “The fumbled snaps, it comes down to the ball being wet, rainy, and we’ve got to do a better job of the exchange between me and Elgton. It happened one too many times for sure. And then the drops, it comes down to making plays when conditions aren’t perfect. Obviously, it was wet, and too many drops.”
Romeo Doubs, who had four catches on five targets for 28 yards, acknowledged the receivers needed to help Love out more.
“Obviously catching footballs in the rain is not ideal for a receiver, but it’s not an excuse for us all,” Doubs said. “But again, we will let this be a learning experience and get right watching the film, adjusting to whatever weather we have coming up through the rest of this month and the course of this year.”
The Packers have plenty of things to correct as they head into their bye week. They outgained the Lions 411 yards to 261 but couldn’t finish drives. Their four trips to the red zone resulted in two field goals and one touchdown.
Green Bay is competing for playoff positioning with every team in the NFC North, which looks like the toughest division in football. Detroit and Minnesota both won at Lambeau Field, and the Packers will have to play both on the road. They also have to play division rival Chicago twice.
For the Packers to produce a late-season surge similar to the one that got them into the playoffs last year, Love will have to stay healthy and reduce his mistakes.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Love said. “(I’m) putting the ball in jeopardy way too many times and definitely (that’s) something I have to clean up.”