Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers opened training camp Wednesday.
Fifteen summers ago, the new quarterback in Green Bay was booed at various times during the Packers’ first training camp practice.
That led to a season in which Aaron Rodgers received countless nasty letters, was sworn at by a young boy while entering his keypad code at Lambeau Field, and found disparaging comments written in sidewalk chalk on his driveway.
The people of Green Bay weren’t ready to turn the page from Brett Favre to Rodgers back in 2008. And they let Rodgers know about it with great regularity.
It was a much different story Wednesday.
The Packers held their first practice of the 2023 season, officially kicking off the Jordan Love-era. And while there were undoubtedly some skeptics among the capacity crowd at Ray Nitschke Field, those doubters were quiet on this day.
Instead, fans erupted each time Love completed a pass. They screamed Love’s name throughout the 88-minute practice. And they gave Love the kind of support Rodgers longed for 15 years earlier.
“I think it’s all been positive, I think it’s all been really good,” Love said after practice. “Obviously you go from one obviously Hall of Fame quarterback who’s been here for quite some time and the fans love him, and then obviously moving on, it’s going to be tough for some people.
“But I think it’s all been positive stuff, going forward. Everything I’ve seen and heard, everyone I’ve talked to, it’s all been really positive, so I’ve appreciated that.”
Day 1 of this camp was a stark contrast to opening day, 2008 — a time when the Favre-Rodgers saga was THE story in football.
Favre retired that March, then told head coach Mike McCarthy in June he had an “itch” to return. Packers president Mark Murphy flew to Mississippi and offered Favre a lucrative marketing contract to stay retired, a deal Favre rejected.
Favre returned to Green Bay in late-July, fully intent on winning his job back. And a passionate fan base backed Favre every step of the way.
“Yeah, I take it personally,” Rodgers said of being booed many times that summer.
Eventually, Favre was traded to the New York Jets. But the rocky start to Green Bay’s year undoubtedly played a role in its soon-to-be 6-10 season.
Love, who like Rodgers sat three years before inheriting the starting job, should have a much smoother summer.
Love knows the offense inside and out. He seems to have the full trust of both coaches and teammates. And with Rodgers now a New York Jet himself, there certainly won’t be a quarterback controversy.
In fact, Rodgers reached out to Love Tuesday night with words of encouragement for his former backup.
“He said just be yourself, have fun, enjoy it,” Love said of Rodgers’ message. “It’s obviously my time now and he just said be yourself.
“And I mean, that’s all you can do. That’s kind of been the message from everybody, just be yourself — don’t try to be anybody else, don’t try to be Aaron. Just be yourself. And that’s kind of what I’m trying to do.”
There was good and bad for Love during practice No. 1.
Love struggled throwing into a stiff wind, especially on deep balls intended for Christian Watson and Luke Musgrave. But Love was sharp during the final period when the starters worked against each other.
Love and second-year wideout Romeo Doubs were in sync throughout the day. Love also found second-year man Samori Toure with a quick hitter on the final play of practice that went for big yardage.
“I take it day by day,” Love said. “We have a day like this, I’ll go in there, watch the film, evaluate it, see where I stand with the plays I had, and then tomorrow I’ll evaluate that day. It’s all progression.
“The thing you want to see is not make the same mistakes twice, building on things. If you made a mistake one day, just grow from that, learn, like I said, not keep making the same mistakes twice.”
Love figures to receive plenty of reps to learn from his mistakes.
Love has made just one career start, an ugly performance during a 13-7 loss at Kansas City in 2021. He’s also thrown only 83 career passes.
But Green Bay’s brass was thrilled with the steps Love took in 2022, highlighted by a terrific relief performance at Philadelphia in late-November. And the Packers believe by the time they travel to Chicago in Week 1, they’ll be in good hands with Love.
“I’m really excited and he definitely has complete command of our offense,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of Love. “There’s no doubt about it. He’s put the work in. He knows the ins and outs and now it’s going to apply that in a real situation.”
Doubs agreed with his head coach.
“Jordan’s our Q for this year, man,” Doubs said. “I have the utmost confidence in him. I’m sure he has the same confidence in all of us as receivers. It’s really just up to us to continue to do everything right and execute everything, execute the littlest thing.”
For now, Love is saying and doing all the right things. He’s become more assertive and the leader Green Bay needs him to be.
Love even organized a get-together in California recently for eight of his offensive pals, including running back Aaron Jones, Watson and Doubs. The group went bowling, dined and bonded, hoping to develop some early-season chemistry.
“You can’t put a price on that,” Jones said.
You also can’t put a price on a fan base that has your back.
It took Rodgers several seasons — and a tumultuous 2008 summer — before earning that support. By the looks of things Wednesday, though, Love already has the backing of the paying customers.
And that could go a long ways toward making the Summer of Love an awfully enjoyable one.