Jordan Love’s pocket presence in the Green Bay Packers’ preseason finale against the Seattle Seahawks was one aspect of his performance in that game that really stood out.
On a number of Love’s dropbacks, it appeared that he had nowhere to go with the ball and ended up holding on to it. This, in part, was due to the offensive line being really good in pass protection and giving him plenty of time in the pocket. The Seattle secondary also covered well, and Matt LaFleur also added after the game that there were times when they would like to see the ball come out quicker.
However, when the pressure did finally start to come, or the pocket began to shrink, Love was able to feel that pressure before it got there, and navigated the pocket well to either buy time to get rid of the ball, or he took off running.
“First of all,” said Matt LaFleur after the game, “just watching him, the poise that he had, he held the ball a little bit longer than we’d normally like to, but it was great protection around him and that was really encouraging to see because that’s a total feel thing from the quarterback. And then he used his legs and got out and scrambled and picked up positive yards. So I thought, all in all, he did a pretty good job.”
Although the Seattle game is where Love was able to best showcase this part of his skill set, his ability to avoid pass rushers is something we’ve seen throughout the preseason and even during his limited action in past years. Of course, the offensive line deserves credit for their performance in these three games, but even on the rare instances pressure got through, Love was able to avoid being sacked as well as hit when he was under duress.
A prime example of Love’s escapability was during the Kansas City game in 2021, where the Chiefs constantly blitzed him. But despite being pressured on nearly 50 percent of his dropbacks, according to PFF, Love was sacked just once and was hit only once as well.
Throughout this offseason, LaFleur has emphasized the importance of the process for Love, which pretty much consists of everything from stepping into the huddle to the point when the ball is released. The thought is that if the process is done correctly and consistently, the results will follow. Also, a key component of having a sound process are the fundamentals, and with proper fundamentals, it leads to decisive play and a quarterback better knowing when to take off and when to hang in the pocket.
“I’m asking him to go out there and be decisive,” said LaFleur at the start of training camp. “And that is always a fine line of you never want to take that freedom away from a quarterback. There is so much feel that goes into that position of when to scramble, when to step up and stay a passer. I think it’s just a process of going through different experiences and reacting to whatever you see. But I do think in order to be an effective quarterback, you got to play decisively. You got to trust what you see. Trust the guys around you, that they’re going to get their job done and just play fast.
“But in regards to him scrambling,” added LaFleur, “I just want whatever feels natural to him, that’s what I want him to do, and we can coach off of that.”
Love’s ability to scramble for yards is going to be an added element to this year’s Packers team compared to 2022. While Aaron Rodgers was always one of the best at navigating the pocket and knowing when to extend plays, that ability to create chunk plays with his legs had also begun to dwindle as well at this point in his career.
Not to say that there won’t be more designed runs in the regular season for Love, but throughout training camp and the preseason, we really didn’t see the Packers using Love in that capacity often. Rather, when we saw Love on the move was when things broke down. But with that said, it’s also important to note that Love’s first instinct wasn’t to take off either. He continued to go through his progressions, navigated the pocket, and took off only when necessary.
“I’ve always felt comfortable using my legs,” said Love. “I think in practice it’s one of those things you want to work throwing it more, not running as much because obviously you’re not getting hit. Everyone’s staying away from you in the red jersey. I think games, that’s the time to just be able to break it out.
“But I’ve always felt comfortable running it and I haven’t felt discouraged. Matt (LaFleur), he’s always been good on letting me play, letting me do my thing out there. Obviously, they want to make sure I’m not taking any hits, so I just (try to) be smart when I get out of the pocket.”
It’s an overall young offense that the Packers have, but also one that has a lot of speed and versatility at the skill positions. Love’s ability to stay clean in the pocket and extend plays when needed is going to have to be another element that opposing defenses are going to have to account for.