After a disappointing playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in January, Green Bay Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst’s message to his football team was that it needed to ramp up its “sense of urgency.”

“It’s time that we start competing for championships,” Gutekunst told reporters at his season-ending press conference.

This offseason, the Packers general manager made a few aggressive moves aimed at getting the league’s youngest team over the playoff hump. Green Bay drafted a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL draft for the first time in more than 20 years. And in a shocking move late last month, the team traded for Micah Parsons, widely considered one of the league’s best pass rushers.

Heading into the season, the Packers have the sixth-best odds to win the Super Bowl, according to sports-betting company Fanduel.

This year’s team will get its first major test on Sunday when the Packers take on the division rival Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. The Lions have won the NFC North division in each of the last two seasons and haven’t lost at Lambeau since 2021.

“They’ve been the standard the last two seasons in this league, and I’ve got a lot of respect for what they’ve been able to accomplish,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters Wednesday. “It’s going to be a great challenge.”

Jordan Love preparing for third season as starting quarterback

Aside from facing a division rival to kick off the season, Sunday also marks the start of Jordan Love’s third season as the team’s starting quarterback.

Love has led Green Bay to the playoffs in both of his seasons as the starter. Last year, he missed two games early in the season with an MCL sprain and the Packers often struggled in big games.

In August, the quarterback had surgery on his left thumb to address a ligament injury to his non-throwing hand that he sustained in the team’s first preseason game. On Wednesday, Love told reporters the thumb injury is not “much of an issue” and he doesn’t believe he will be limited by it.

Sunday’s game could have playoff implications. The Packers came in 3rd place in the NFC North last season and went 1-5 in divisional games.

“Our performance against every team in the NFC North wasn’t good enough, wasn’t up to our standards,” Love said. “That’s definitely something that’s lingered with us throughout the offseason.”

The Packers had the second-highest rate of dropped passes in the NFL last season at 6.9 percent, according to Pro Football Reference.

First-round wide receiver Matthew Golden, set to make his regular season debut, hopes to help change that. Golden was listed as a starter on the Packers unofficial depth chart after several pass-catchers missed time during training camp and the preseason with injury.

Golden told reporters this week that he feels he has a good grasp of the playbook and the chemistry he’s built with Love is “where it needs to be.”

“I’m definitely excited to be able to play for a quarterback like that, somebody that could put the ball anywhere in open space, no matter where the defender is,” he said. “It definitely makes my job a lot easier.”

Defense was a team strength last season, and they just added a new chess piece

After years of subpar and middle-of-the-road defenses, the Packers last season ranked 5th in total defense, led by defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, according to Fox Sports.

The team welcomed all-pro safety Xavier McKinney to the roster last season, who led the team with eight interceptions. And this year, Hafley has another new chess piece in Parsons, who Green Bay acquired last week via a trade with the Dallas Cowboys.

Parsons has had at least 12 sacks in each of his first four seasons in the NFL. The only other player to do that is Hall of Famer Reggie White, who won Super Bowl 31 with the Packers.

Parsons is dealing with a back injury and sat out of training camp during a contract dispute with the Cowboys. He told reporters this week he’s been “ramping up” after not playing football for six months. Whether he plays on Sunday, he says, will be “completely up to the coaches.”

“I’ve been trying to practice hard with the reps that they gave me on the ramp up, see what their plan is for me this game, and see how they were trying to unleash me,” Parsons said.

In his introductory press conference last week, Parsons said he looks forward to adding to the “rich history” of the Packers and said he felt “great” physically.

“They didn’t give up what they gave up for me to sit on the sidelines,” he told reporters. “I looked on that wall and I saw Brett Favre. I saw Reggie (White). I saw all those legends. And I was like, ‘I gotta be there.’”

Hafley told reporters this week that he wouldn’t reveal his plans for how to use Parsons, but he expects it to evolve over time.

“It’s all going to be gradual,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s anything that we need to rush into, but we need to get him caught up to speed as soon as possible.”

The Packers will face a quick turnaround after Sunday’s game. They’ve got a Thursday night contest against the Washington Commanders next up on the schedule.