GREEN BAY, Wis. — I know, I know; we’re talking about practice.
But, man, for the Packers’ offense, that was some practice.
“We started off the day really hot,” quarterback Jordan Love said.
Indeed they did. In their joint practice Wednesday with the Cardinals, Love connected with his top three wide receivers: Matthew Golden, Jayden Reed and Christian Watson. The passes were on target, the timing was perfect and the plays were big. The quartet is set to explode.
The completions brought to mind Bears coach Ben Johnson’s goal — no, mandate — for Caleb Williams to complete 70% of his passes. After Williams finished last among 24 qualified quarterbacks in 2025 with a 58.1 completion percentage, that seems like a long shot.
For Love, it’s quite possible.
“Yeah, 70% completion percentage is attainable,” he said.
Coach Matt LaFleur agreed, but he isn’t pressing Love to reach it the way Johnson is with Williams. LaFleur said there’s more nuance to it.
“It’s all circumstantial in terms of what are we calling,” he said. “The deeper the concepts that you run, typically the lower the completion percentage, especially if you’re pushing the ball down the field. But that’s why as a quarterback, you have to make great decisions. If the deep ball’s not there, can you check it down and just keep the sticks moving?”
Said Love: “Completion percentage is one of those things you might look at after the game, at the end of the season. But it’s not something you’re focused on throughout the game. The goal is to improve that every year and have a great completion percentage. I’m not even sure what I was at last year.”
He was at 66.3%, 11th in the league among qualified QBs. The Patriots’ Drake Maye led the way at 72%; he was the only one to break 70%. And Love indeed improved on his first two full seasons at the helm.
Williams went the other way in his second full season. Yet, he has built so much excitement from his improbable fourth-quarter comebacks that he’s on the cover of the video game Madden NFL 27. Meanwhile, without such balleyhoo and drama, Love carries on.
“For me, it’s just about continuing to keep my head down and do my job,” he said when asked about Williams’ comparative rise in fame. “Focus on what we’re doing here in this building and try to lead this team to be the best team we can be.”
Love will face some challenges, starting with the offensive line. Jordan Morgan, the Packers’ first-round pick in 2024, is taking over at left tackle. Sean Rhyan is doing the same at center, where he barely played before being thrust into the position because of an injury last year.
Running back Josh Jacobs participated in the scrimmage with the Cardinals, but he’s facing a potential suspension from the NFL after being arrested on domestic-violence charges, including strangulation and suffocation. Turning to little-used MarShawn Lloyd would be a big comedown.
“I’m pretty confident we can sustain it,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said. “We’ll deal with that when that comes, but we’ve obviously been preparing for that in case that happens. I feel really good about the guys we’ve got in that room.”
The defense might not have star edge rusher Micah Parsons, who’s recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, until Week 5, which happens to be the first matchup with the Bears. Parsons is the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in each of his first five seasons.
“There’s not many Micah Parsons on the planet,” Gutekunst said. “There’s only so many guys in our game that can affect the game the way he does.”
Love is turning into that type of player, as he demonstrated on Ray Nitschke Field. But he wasn’t happy with how the offense ended the practice, which he certainly would say about the way the Packers ended last season.
The Packers were 9-3-1 and led the Broncos by nine in the third quarter. They lost by eight, setting off a skid that lasted the rest of the season. The Packers lost their final four regular-season games, then blew a 21-6 fourth-quarter lead to the Bears in the playoffs.
For all of Love’s success in the regular season, the Packers have earned the seventh and final NFC playoff seed in each of his three seasons since taking over for Aaron Rodgers — and they have one postseason victory to show for it.
Granted, we’re only talking about practice, but this season might end differently.