Worst replacement for legendary Packers coach is reason to worry about Jordan Love

Jordan Love's up-and-down 2024 season wasn't exactly what the Green Bay Packers expected given how their 2023-24 playoff run ended. However, quarterback maturity can happen in spurts, and the Packers are right to believe in Love who is coming off just his second full season starting in the NFL.

Love saw a downtick in yards, completion percentage and passing touchdowns, though some of that can be blamed on missing a few games due to injury. The most concerning statistic would be Love's interceptions – a simple counting stat, of course – but his 11 picks in just 15 games were a wake-up call.

That wake-up call didn't come in time for the Packers Wild Card round playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Love threw three interceptions, each of which was explained away by head coach Matt LaFleur, who fell on the sword for his quarterback. That is what good head coaches do for their young, developing passers, but Packers fans ought to know better.

“Do I think he can play better? Absolutely,” LaFleur said of Jordan Love, per The Athletic. “Do I think I can help him out and be better? Absolutely. Do I think we can play better around him? Absolutely.”

Jordan Love and the Packers face major changes in 2025

After the season ended, legendary Packers QB coach Tom Clements opted to retire. Clements coach Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and now Love. He developed a close relationship with each, and won't be easy to replace. With Clements departure, the onus is on Love to be more vocal with his coaches and be the change he wants to see in Green Bay heading into his third complete season under center. LaFleur agrees.

"I think the next step is just to continue to evolve as a vocal leader," LaFleur said of Love.

There's not much stopping Love from taking on more of a leadership role this offseason, assuming the Packers don't do something stupid, like hire a television personality to be their next quarterback coach.

Please don't. Orlovsky is far from the first so-called expert at Bristol with limited coaching experience to try to take on an important role. Love is at a key stage in his development and just lost one of the best quarterback coaches the NFL has ever seen. While Orlovsky could certainly be a coach one day and seems to understand X's and O's better than your average ESPN viewer, that does not make him ready for a job Green Bay.

And that is no shot at Orlovsky, who, again, is one of the more tolerable and intelligent NFL pundits ESPN has at their disposal. Baby steps, Dan.