GREEN BAY, Wis. — Packers quarterback Jordan Love tore a ligament in his left, non-throwing thumb, a league source said, and will have surgery Tuesday.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday morning that Love will have a “relatively quick recovery” from the procedure, and general manager Brian Gutekunst said the quarterback should meet the team in Indianapolis Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s joint practice against the Colts.
Love hit his left hand on the helmet of New York Jets defensive tackle Jay Tufele while stepping up in the pocket on a third down during the second offensive drive of the exhibition opener. The play ended in a sack, the Packers punted and Love and the starting offense sat the rest of the game.
Gutekunst said he hopes Love returns to practice next week and that he’ll be ready for Week 1 against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field.
“I think as he gets back next week, we’ll kind of assess where he’s at,” Gutekunst said. “How much he can do leading into that Seattle (preseason) game? We’ll kind of see, and it’ll be day to day a little bit. You never want any of these guys to be out because you want to be working as a team. They all need the work, obviously.
“More importantly, he’ll be ready for Week 1, and that’s the most important thing … we’ll get him back in plenty of time. I don’t foresee this affecting him long term at all.”
Love still practiced Monday because Gutekunst said that Love wanted to see how his thumb felt.
“I think he had some options with what he could do,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, you guys saw him out there. He certainly was able to function, but as we looked at all the options and he did, as well, the best option, I think, for him to get back the fastest and feel the best was to do this. He wanted to go out there yesterday to kinda see how it felt and once we got through that, we made the decision … he should meet us in Indy on Wednesday.”
LaFleur said Love “powered through” Monday’s practice.
“I thought he did a nice job,” the coach said. “Some unconventional handoffs, but I mean, you do what you’ve got to do. It’s not the first time I’ve seen that from a quarterback, where you’re basically handing everything off with your right hand. … It wasn’t a factor on like any of the snaps, whether it was gun or under center, because that was my initial concern, was that it’s gonna impact on how we do things, but it seems to be OK.”
Love was originally scheduled to sit out Saturday’s preseason game against the Colts, but play in the preseason finale against the Seahawks after next Thursday’s joint practice with Seattle in Green Bay. LaFleur said that it’s “highly unlikely” Love plays against the Seahawks, even if he practices next week, and he doesn’t know for certain whether Love will partake in next week’s joint practice.
(Photo: Kayla Wolf / Imagn Images)
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