Jordan Love might not wait as long as Aaron Rodgers did before seeing meaningful snaps.
When asked about the prospect of using their 2020 NFL Draft first-round pick to replace the 36-year-old, two-time MVP during plays better suited for the mobile rookie, Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett didn’t rule out the possibility, à la the Saints’ use of Taysom Hill in coordination with former Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees.
“I think everything’s still so early to tell,” Hackett told reporters Friday. “Haven’t even really gotten to sit in a meeting room at Lambeau. I haven’t gotten to talk with him much or work face to face. I think there’s so much yet to be seen. You never know. Anything can happen.”
Though Love’s selection with the 26th overall pick, which required Green Bay to trade up, caught the country by surprise after Rodgers had just led the Packers to a fourth NFC Championship game, Hackett said the team isn’t looking too far into the future. Even if Love is sprinkled into action occasionally, he may still end up following the path of Rodgers, who waited three years behind Brett Favre before becoming the Packers’ starter.
“The coaches’ world is always game by game,” Hackett said. “Every single thing that we look at, we are always looking to try to accomplish that win each week. That’s the only thing that matters to us. The future is something that might be in the back of our mind, but we always live in the moment. That’s usually how we’re all judged. But at the same time, anything can happen at any moment within a game, that’s what makes the same so much fun. So you’ve got to prepare everybody like they’re a starter and they’ve got to go in there and play. So it’s about winning. It’s about Aaron Rodgers going out there and winning a football game and then Jordan’s going to just have to continually learn and continue to be a good sponge.”