Will Jordan Love Start Week 1? Packers’ Quarterback Ready To Replace Aaron Rodgers

With Aaron Rodgers skipping mandatory minicamp and maintaining his stance that he no longer wants to play for the Green Bay Packers, there’s a real chance that the team will need a new starting quarterback for the 2021 NFL season. Jordan Love is ready to fill that role, even if the Packers are holding out hope that the reigning MVP returns.

“A hundred percent,” Love said when asked if he is prepared to start in Week 1, via ESPN. “Obviously, this is a time where I'm getting a lot of extremely valuable reps that I might not have been getting in a normal circumstance. So I’m just going to take it day by day. ... But yeah, that’s what I'm here for. I was drafted here to play quarterback, so I'll definitely be ready Week 1.”

In Rodgers’ absence, Love is being treated as Green Bay’s No. 1 quarterback. Love had an uneven start to minicamp, struggling on the first day but impressing with big-time throws on Day 2.

“Listen, you can never get too high and never too low in this game,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. “One of the biggest emphases for Jordan is just to treat each play as its own entity. We're always grading the decision-making, the timing, the accuracy, and we want to see the consistency just continue to get better and better.”

Love is entering his second NFL season with no meaningful in-game experience. The 22-year-old didn’t attempt a pass during Rodgers’ 2020 MVP campaign. Love watched from the sidelines as Green Bay went 13-3 and lost in the NFC Championship Game for the second straight year.

The Packers have high hopes for Love, whom they traded up for in the first round of the 2020 draft. The Utah State product is expected to be Rodgers’ successor at some point, though Green Bay would like to put that off for at least another season.

Green Bay is not currently entertaining trade offers for Rodgers. The two sides have continued their standoff for several weeks. It remains to be seen if Rodgers will show up to training camp in July.

The Packers are scheduled to visit the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 12 in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season.