Love misses Packers practice, still not ruled out vs. Colts

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Two days after Matt LaFleur said he wasn’t closing the door on Jordan Love possibly starting Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, the Green Bay Packers coach was given the opportunity to shut that door completely.

He did not.

“I’d say it’s pretty open,” LaFleur said Wednesday.

Love did not practice, however, leaving it open to wonder if LaFleur was simply trying to keep the Colts guessing. Love also did not hold his usual Wednesday session with reporters in the locker room after practice. It was unclear if he will take questions this week.

Love has not taken questions since he sprained the MCL in his left knee on the third-to-last play of the Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.

Malik Willis got the majority of the starting quarterback reps Wednesday, although LaFleur said practice squad quarterback Sean Clifford also took some snaps with the No. 1 offense.

If Willis starts in place of Love on Sunday, then the newly acquired backup quarterback believes he’ll be better than he was during three starts as a rookie in Tennessee two years ago even though he’s been in Green Bay for less than three weeks. Willis, who was acquired in an Aug. 26 trade with the Titans for a seventh-round pick, has not started since a three-game stint during his rookie season of 2022. The Titans went 1-2 on those games, but Willis did not reach the 100-yard passing mark in any them.

“I mean, that’s the only way you get better is reps, and live game reps would definitely be a different feel,” said Willis, who took the final two snaps against the Eagles. “At this point, I’ve only played three games and I was a rookie. Call it what you want to, ‘I wasn’t ready yet,’ but I had to go in and I’m a different player than then. But control what you can control. It’s not about what you know, it’s about what you can prove on the field. You know what I mean?”